A senior general in the Russian armed forces has been killed in an explosion in Moscow.

Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of the Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC) Defense Forces, was leaving a residential block early Tuesday when a device hidden in a scooter exploded, Russia's investigative committee said.

He said Kirillov's aide was also killed.

In October, the UK imposed sanctions on Kirillov, saying he had overseen the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine and was an "important mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation".

On Monday, the Ukrainian secret service, the SBU, charged him in absentia, saying on Telegram he was "responsible for the mass use of prohibited chemical weapons".