A bomb hidden in an electric scooter has killed a senior general in charge of nuclear security in Moscow, the Russian Investigative Committee says.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces, was killed outside an apartment building on Ryazansky Prospect on Tuesday.

“The head of the Radiological, Chemical and Biological Protection Corps of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Igor Kirillov, and his assistant were killed,” the Investigative Committee said.

According to a law enforcement official, the explosive “had a capacity of 300 grams of TNT equivalent”, Russian outlet Tass news agency reported.

Photos posted on Russian Telegram channels showed a collapsed door to a rubble-strewn building and two bodies lying in blood-stained snow.

A criminal case has been opened.

Radiological, chemical and biological security forces of Russia are special forces that operate in radioactive, chemical and biological contaminated conditions.

According to the Kyiv Independent newspaper, Ukrainian prosecutors charged Kirilov with using chemical weapons banned in Ukraine, Ukraine’s defense service said,