Jenna Moon
Live reporter

Image source, Telegram

Early this morning, an explosion in a Moscow neighbourhood killed Russian Lt Gen Igor Kirillov and his assistant, Ilya Polikarpov. Sources within Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) say it was behind the blast.

Here's a recap:

• Kirillov headed Russia's Radiological, Biological, Chemical Defence Forces (NBC). Just yesterday, Ukraine charged Kirillov in absentia for war crimes - it says he oversaw the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian soldiers
• The bomb was detonated remotely, according to Russian state media, and contained anywhere from 300g to 1kg of explosives
• The bomb was seemingly planted on a scooter outside the building and went off when Kirillov and his aide left this morning
• Kirillov was known for outlandish claims and had long suggested Ukraine was developing a "dirty" nuclear bomb. He was described by the UK as "a significant mouthpiece for Russian disinformation"
• Ukraine has been stepping up its assassinations, our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale writes. The SBU is believed to be behind the deaths of two other Russian officials in recent weeks
• And - from the scene - our Russia editor Steve Rosenberg says the explosion brings the Ukraine war home for people in the capital

We'll soon be ending our live coverage, but you can learn more in this news article, or read our profile on Kirillov here.

BBC Verify has analysed images from the blast site, where the scooter can clearly be seen ahead of the explosion.

And finally, below you can watch Steve Rosenberg's report from the street where Kirillov was killed. Thanks for joining us.

Car renter questioned as bomb disposal robot inspects vehiclepublished at 14:50 Greenwich Mean Time 17 December

14:50 GMT 17 December

By Matt Murphy

Footage circulating on social media and reviewed by BBC Verify has shown a bomb disposal robot inspecting a car at the scene, after this morning's blast.

In two clips reviewed by the BBC the robot is seen being unloaded by police officers from a truck, before it proceeds to inspect a vehicle parked across the road from the apartment block.

BBC Verify has analysed the clips and confirmed that the footage first appeared online this morning.

A popular Russian telegram channel, Shot, reported subsequently that the person renting the car has been identified, and was being taken in for questioning.

Steve Rosenberg
BBC Russia editor, reporting from the scene in Moscow

Liza, who lives one building from the site of the blast, spoke to me at the scene. She says that while she isn't entirely surprised, today's killing of Igor Kirillov is a "shocking" development.

"It’s one thing reading about it in the news, it feels far, but when it happens next door, that’s completely different and frightening," she tells me.

"Until now, [the war] felt as if it was happening a long way off – now someone is dead, here, you can feel the consequences," Liza continues.

"My anxiety has gone through the roof. Every sound you hear unnerves you – you wonder whether it’s a drone or something at a construction site.

"Unfortunately, I don’t think things will calm down anytime soon."

Footage shows scooter outside building moments before blastpublished at 13:54 Greenwich Mean Time 17 December

13:54 GMT 17 December

Image source, AFP

Footage authenticated by BBC Verify shows two people leaving the Moscow building before an explosion next to the entrance. Their clothes are the same colour as those on the bodies pictured in the aftermath.

A scooter appears to propped up near the door. Nothing after the blast is visible - the rest of the footage is obscured by debris from the explosion.

In other footage analysed by BBC Verify, the remains of an electric scooter can be seen lying among debris between two bodies and a demolished doorway.

A close-up image of the scooter, verified by matching it to the debris, shows it is largely intact - apart from its missing handlebars.

• Read the full piece from BBC Verify here

Earlier today we heard from a spokesperson for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Now, we can bring you comments from the prime minister himself on the death of Kirillov.

Starmer would not be drawn into supporting directly the killing of senior Russian officials, the PA news agency reports.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring's Russia editor

As we've reported, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov is believed to have been in charge of Russia’s chemical weapons - even though Moscow claims to have none.

Russia says it destroyed the last remainder of its vast chemical weapons stockpile on 27 September 2017, external. President Putin observed the destruction over a video link and called it "a truly historic event, external".

"It’s a huge step towards making the world safer," he said.

But in May this year, the US accused Russia of deploying chemical weapons as a "method of warfare" in Ukraine, in violation of international laws banning their use.

In October, the UK sanctioned Kirillov, saying he was "responsible for helping deploy these barbaric weapons".

And the day before General Kirillov was killed, Ukraine accused him of committing war crimes by authorising the use of chemical weapons, particularly the dropping of hand grenades with CS and CN tear gas from drones.

Ukraine appears to be stepping up its assassinationspublished at 12:53 Greenwich Mean Time 17 December

12:53 GMT 17 December

Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent

This is not an isolated assassination. Nor is it random.

Ukraine’s security services appear to be stepping up their targeting of senior Russian individuals tied to specific events or with key skills for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

On 13 November a car bomb killed Valery Trankovsky, a senior Russian naval officer, in Crimea.

A Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) source told the Kyiv Independent newspaper that Trankovsky was a war criminal who ordered cruise missile attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine.

Ukrainian intelligence is also believed to have been behind the shooting of a Russian scientist, Mikhail Shatsky, who was killed near Moscow on 12 December. He was reported to have been involved in Russia’s missile programme and developing artificial intelligence software for drones.

The latest targeted assassination was of a Russian general who oversaw the use of chemical weapons in the war – Igor Kirillov.

UK chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said Kirillov was a key Russian general who had authorised the use of Chloropicrin – a toxic gas – on an industrial scale.

Lt Gen Kirillov "imposed suffering and death on the Ukrainian people" and will not be mourned, the UK government says.

“Clearly we are not going to mourn the death of an individual who has propagated an illegal invasion and imposed suffering and death on the Ukrainian people," the prime minister's official spokesman says.

The UK sanctioned Kirillov in October - at the time calling him "a significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation, spreading lies to mask Russia’s shameful and dangerous behaviour".

It also accused him of overseeing the use of "barbaric" chemical weapons in Ukraine.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring's Russia editor

The Russian government’s official newspaper suggests that Lt Gen Kirillov was killed by Ukrainian secret services, as the Ukrainians themselves also claim.

"Only in this way was the Kyiv regime able to silence Gen Kirillov," says a headline on the website of Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

"Investigators have no right to make assumptions. That’s why they’re not saying anything about the Ukrainian trace. But it is clear to everyone anyway who is behind this, another act of terror,” Rossiyskaya Gazeta says.

In Moscow, a student who lives in the building next to where the explosion happened says he was woken by a "very loud explosion".

Mikhail Mashkov tells news agency AFP his immediate thought was "something fell at the construction site", before he looked outside and saw the scene.

Another local, Olga Bogomolova, also says she thought something had fallen at the construction site.

She then saw "broken windows" and realised "it was a very strong explosion".

Image source, EPA

What was Kirillov accused of?published at 11:53 Greenwich Mean Time 17 December

11:53 GMT 17 December

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

To some in the West, Lt Gen Kirillov was a ridiculous, almost comical character, prone to spouting wild theories with no basis in fact. He reportedly claimed that Covid was a US plot to infect Russia, for example.

But there is nothing comical about the order he allegedly gave to deploy the chemical agent Chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops dug-in in frontline trenches in the Donbas.

Chloropicrin, used in the First World War, is a toxic, riot control gas whose use in warfare is banned under Schedule 3 of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Russia has signed.

It causes extreme irritation and pain in the eyes and lungs and - although not usually lethal in open spaces where it can disperse - has an obvious tactical benefit on the battlefield.

In a desperate attempt to escape its effects, Ukrainian infantry have been known to exit their trenches where they can then be picked off by drones or snipers on open ground.

In May, the US sanctioned Russia for its alleged use of this chemical in Ukraine, which Moscow denies.

In October the UK sanctioned Lt Gen Kirillov himself as the Commander of Russia’s Radiological Chemical and Biological Defence (CBR) troops.

Russian media has named the second person killed by the explosion in Moscow this morning.

As we've been reporting, senior Russian general Lt Gen Igor Kirillov was killed outside the apartment block.

An assistant to the general was also killed - he is now named as Ilya Polikarpov.

Steve Rosenberg
BBC Russia editor, reporting from the scene in Moscow

Speaking to residents here, it is clear there is a deep sense of shock.

Even after three years of war, for many Muscovites, Russia's war in Ukraine is something happening a long way from here; something they only see on television or on their phones.

But the killing of a Russian general in Moscow - that is a wake up call, a sign that this war is very real and very close to home.

As we've reported, investigators in Moscow said from the start that the bomb seemed to be hidden on an electric scooter.

Now they say the bomb was taped to the handlebars, according to a Russian newspaper.

The bomb was then activated by a radio signal or a call from a mobile phone, Kommersant reports, citing Russia's investigative committee.

The BBC has not verified the information - but we earlier brought you a picture from the scene showing a burned out scooter with missing handlebars.

Steve Rosenberg
BBC Russia editor, reporting from the scene in Moscow

The apartment block in south-east Moscow where the explosion took place has been cordoned off. But from the side of the building you can clearly see bomb damage to the entrance.

Russian investigators are milling outside, with armed police on patrol. Early this morning, this is where Lt Gen Igor Kirillov and his assistant were killed.

• General killed: A senior Russian general, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, and his assistant, have been killed in a bomb blast in Moscow
• Scooter bomb: Investigators say the device was hidden in an electric scooter and exploded outside an apartment building on Tuesday morning. It had 300g of explosives, Russia state media says, suggesting the victims were nearby when the bomb went off
• Handlebars missing: Pictures from the scene show a scooter with the handlebars seemingly blown off
• Ukraine claims responsibility: The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) was behind the operation, a source in the service tells the BBC. The source says Kirillov was a "legitimate target"
• Chemical weapons chief: Kirillov was responsible for the Russian army's chemical weapons - and just yesterday had been charged in absentia by Ukraine for committing a war crime

• What else was he known for?As our Europe editor Paul Kirby writes, he was notorious for spreading outlandish claims against the West

Scooter pictured at the scene has missing handlebarspublished at 09:52 Greenwich Mean Time 17 December

09:52 GMT 17 December

By Jake Horton

BBC Verify is looking into the killing of Lt Gen Igor Kirillov by studying images from the scene shared on social media.

Shared several times online is a close-up of a scooter. We have located it at the scene by matching brickwork and debris in the image with a video of the aftermath.

We’re trying to establish more details about what explosive device may have been used by sending several images of the aftermath to weapons experts.

Despite reports that an explosive device was hidden inside a scooter, the scooter at the scene appears to show it largely intact - apart from missing handlebars.

Image source, Telegram

Kirillov was far more than just a mouthpiecepublished at 09:36 Greenwich Mean Time 17 December

09:36 GMT 17 December

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, Russian State Duma

As head of Russia's Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection troops, Igor Kirillov was accused by the West of overseeing the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.

He had become notorious for outlandish briefings at the Russian defence ministry - which prompted the UK Foreign Office to label him a "significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation".

But Kirillov was far more than just a mouthpiece.

He headed Russia's Timoshenko Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Academy, before going on to lead the Russian army's Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops from 2017.

The force's main tasks involve identifying hazards and protecting units from contamination - but also "causing loss to the enemy by using flame-incendiary means", the Russian defence ministry says.

The UK Foreign Office said, external the force he commanded had deployed "barbaric chemical weapons in Ukraine", highlighting "multiple reports of the use of the toxic choking agent chloropicrin".

On the eve of his killing, Ukraine's SBU declared that he had been named in absentia in a criminal case for the "mass use" of prohibited chemical weapons on the eastern and southern fronts in Ukraine.

Image source, Reuters/Russian Defence Ministry

Russian officials have accused the West of orchestrating Lt Gen Kirillov's killing, highlighting his alleged role in "uncovering the crimes of the Anglo-Saxons".

Chairman of the State Duma (lower house) Defence Committee Andrei Kartapolov vowed, external to find and punish "those responsible for organising and carrying out" Kirillov's murder "no matter who they are or where they may be".

On Telegram, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote that Kirillov "spent many years systematically exposing the crimes of the Anglo-Saxons".

State Duma deputy and retired army general Andrei Gurulyov claimed, external that Kirillov was a person who "understood and tracked the entire criminal activity of the US and its satellites, including their criminal biolabs and the spread of chemical and biological weapons".

Gurulyov called for a "tough response" that will include "strikes against Anglo-Saxon officials".

As a reminder, the UK sanctioned Kirillov in October, calling him "a significant mouthpiece for Kremlin disinformation, spreading lies to mask Russia’s shameful and dangerous behaviour".

And just yesterday, he was charged in Kyiv with overseeing the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.

Russia's investigative committee has described the killing of Lt Gen Kirillov a "terrorist act".

Spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko says: "The incident has been classified as a terrorist act, murder, illegal trafficking of weapons, and ammunition."