Senior general in charge of Russia’s nuclear protection forces killed in Moscow explosion

His death comes the day after he was charged with war crimes in Ukraine

Lt Gen Igor Kirillov was leaving an apartment building early on Tuesday morning when a device hidden in a scooter was detonated, Russia’s investigative committee said.

His assistant was also reportedly killed.

According to Russia's state news agency Tass, via the BBC, the device that killed Kirillov was remotely operated and could have contained about 300g of explosive material.

Gen Kirillov had been in charge of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defence Forces since April 2017.

Kirillov's death comes the day after he had been sentenced to war crimes by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) for using banned chemical weapons in the country.

In October, the UK and Canada sanctioned Kirillov for his role in the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The British government said the general had overseen the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine and spread Russian fake news.

The UK said Kirillov was "responsible for helping deploy these barbaric weapons" and labelled him a "significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation, spreading lies to mask Russia’s shameful and dangerous behaviour."

Kirillov's death comes at a time of rising global tensions and uncertainty. Last month, president Joe Biden have Ukraine authorisation to use US-supplied missiles in attacks on Russia. This greatly increased tensions between the West and Russia, and led to reports that Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine.

This all comes amid global uncertainty ahead of Donald Trump's presidency next year.