A Russian general was killed by a bomb in Moscow. Ukraine official says secret service was behind it

MOSCOW (AP) — A senior Russian general was killed today by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow, a day after Ukraine’s security agency leveled criminal charges against him. A Ukrainian official said the country’s security service carried out the attack.

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed as he left for his office. Kirillov’s assistant also died in the bombing, which was triggered remotely, according to Russian news reports. Images from the scene showed shattered windows and scorched and blackened brickwork.

Kirillov was under sanctions from several countries, including the U.K. and Canada, for his actions in Moscow’s war in Ukraine. On Monday, Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, opened a criminal investigation against him, accusing him of directing the use of banned chemical weapons. An official with the SBU said the agency was behind the attack. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, described Kirillov as a “war criminal and an entirely legitimate target.”