General Igor Kirillov and His Assistant Killed in Moscow Blast

"According to the investigation, on the morning of December 17, an explosive device, planted in a scooter parked next to the entrance of a residential building, was detonated on Ryazansky Prospekt in Moscow. As a result of the incident, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defense troops of the armed forces of Russia, Igor Kirillov, and his assistant were killed," the committee wrote on Telegram.

A criminal case has been opened in connection with the incident on Ryazansky Prospekt in Moscow, which resulted in the deaths of two men, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Tuesday.

According to preliminary reports, the improvised explosive device was placed on an electric scooter positioned at the entrance of the house.

Investigators are at the scene and medical and bomb experts are being called in to assist in the operation, a search for the perpetrator is underway, the press service of the Russian Investigative Committee said.

The power of the explosive device that went off in Moscow amounted to about 200 grams of TNT, emergency services told Sputnik.

Russian security forces have begun studying video from surveillance cameras near the entrance to the building in southeast Moscow where Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was killed, a representative of the capital's emergency services told Sputnik.

"Video footage from the explosion site on Ryazansky Prospekt was seized," the representative said, adding that specialists have started studying the materials.