General Kirillov, 54, died along with an aide after an explosive device planted in a scooter was detonated on Tuesday morning near the entryway to a residential building, Russia’s Investigative Committee, a law enforcement agency, said in a statement.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed outside an apartment building.

Kirillov ran Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical defense forces. Kyiv previously accused him of ordering the use of chemical weapons against Ukraine.