Bomb Kills Chief of Russian Nuclear Protection Forces in Moscow

A view shows a scene of an explosion, which reportedly killed two army officers, in Moscow, Russia December 17, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
A view shows a scene of an explosion, which reportedly killed two army officers, in Moscow, Russia December 17, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
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Bomb Kills Chief of Russian Nuclear Protection Forces in Moscow

A view shows a scene of an explosion, which reportedly killed two army officers, in Moscow, Russia December 17, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
A view shows a scene of an explosion, which reportedly killed two army officers, in Moscow, Russia December 17, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

A bomb hidden in an electric scooter killed a senior Russian general in charge of nuclear protection forces in Moscow on Tuesday, Russia's investigative committee said.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who is chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed outside an apartment building on Ryazansky Prospekt, which starts road some 7 km (4 miles) southeast of the Kremlin, Reuters reported.
"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 said.
Photographs posted on Russian Telegram channels showed a shattered entrance to a building littered with rubble and two bodies lying in the blood-stained snow.
A criminal case has been opened.
Russia's radioactive, chemical and biological defense troops, known as RKhBZ, are special forces who operate under conditions of radioactive, chemical and biological contamination.



Over 12,300 Civilians Killed since Start of Ukraine War, UN says

A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
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Over 12,300 Civilians Killed since Start of Ukraine War, UN says

A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

More than 12,300 civilians have been killed in the Ukraine war since Russia invaded nearly three years ago, a UN official said on Wednesday, noting higher casualties in recent months amid the use of drones, long-range missiles and glide bombs, according to Reuters.

"Russian armed forces intensified their operations to capture further territory in eastern Ukraine, with a severe impact on civilians in frontline areas, particularly in the Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions," Nada Al-Nashif, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement, referring to developments since September 2024.

"We are deeply concerned by the impacts on civilians of the increased use of drones and the use of new weapons," she added, referring in part to Russia's use of highly destructive guided bombs or glide bombs in residential areas.