A bomb blast in Moscow on Tuesday killed a senior general in charge of Russia's nuclear protection forces, Russia's investigative committee said.

"Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection forces of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, and his assistant were killed," the investigative committee statement said.

Kirillov, a lieutenant general, was the head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops.

Ukrainian security sources told the AFP and Reuters news agencies that Kyiv killed Kirillov in a special operation.

"Kirillov was a war criminal and an absolutely legitimate target, as he gave orders to use banned chemical weapons against the Ukrainian military," a Ukrainian source told Reuters.

At least one other person was killed in the blast, Russian state media said.

Homemade device caused explosion

The explosion occurred outside a residential building on Ryazansky Prospekt, about 7 km (4 miles) southeast of the Kremlin.

According to police sources quoted by state-controlled broadcaster RT, a homemade device was used to cause the blast.

The bomb was reportedly concealed in an electric scooter. Russian state news agency Tass reported that it was triggered remotely.

"Investigators, forensic experts and operational services are working at the scene," a spokesperson for the investigative committee said.

"Investigative and search activities are being carried out to establish all the circumstances around this crime."

Photographs on the messaging app Telegram showed a destroyed building entrance, rubble, and blood-stained snow.

Former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is now deputy chair of Russia's Security Council, said Ukraine's leadership would face imminent revenge over the incident.

"Realizing the inevitability of its military defeat, it launches cowardly and despicable strikes in peaceful cities," he said, according to the state-run RIA news agency.

Kirillov charged with using banned chemical weapons

On Monday, Ukrainian authorities charged Kirillov in absentia for allegedly using banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine confirmed to the Kyiv Independent.

Russia has denied these allegations.

In October, Britain sanctioned Kirillov and his forces over claims of using riot control agents and using the toxic choking agent chloropicrin on the battlefield.

ss/zc (AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa)