Moscow, 17 December 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Prominent Russian general Igor Kirillov - a key figure in Moscow's war on Ukraine - was killed along with his aide in an explosion in Moscow on Tuesday morning, investigators have said.

A spokeswoman for the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Svetlana Petrenko, said the blast was caused by an explosive device hidden in an electric scooter near a residential building in the south-east of the Russian capital.

Russia's state-run TASS news agency, citing a law enforcement official, said the device "had a capacity of some 300 grams in TNT equivalent."

The 54-year-old was the head of the country's Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence (NBC), responsible for protection against threats from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Kirillov frequently appeared publicly during the Russian war against Ukraine, making accusations that the United States was operating secret biolabs in the neighbouring country.

Additionally, Kirillov, who was considered one of the most significant warmongers in Russia and is on Western sanctions lists, claimed that Ukraine was working on a so-called dirty bomb.

Dirty bombs are weapons of mass destruction that combine conventional explosives with radioactive material.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had also made such accusations against Ukraine based on reports publicly presented by Kirillov. There has been no evidence for these claims.

The background to the attack was initially unclear. According to Petrenko, investigators are on site working to solve the crime. The entrance to the building where the explosion occurred was severely damaged, photos showed.

In the past, there have been attacks on high-ranking military figures and propagandists in Russia amidst the war. The power apparatus in Moscow repeatedly blames Ukrainian intelligence services for these attacks.