By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - The Pentagon strongly denied having any role in the assassination of a senior Russian general and his aide in Moscow on Tuesday.
Spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters that the Defense Department was "not aware of this operation in advance."
"We do not support or enable those kinds of activities. I’ve seen the reports, but don't really have any information to provide other than what I've seen in the press,' he added.
Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces, was killed early Tuesday along with his assistant when an explosive device planted in a scooter detonated outside a residential building in Moscow, Russian authorities said.
Svetlana Petrenko, spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee, said the organization has launched a criminal investigation into the bombing, which is being treated as a terrorist attack.
Kirillov's death came a day after Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU) charged him for allegedly ordering the "use of chemical weapons against Ukraine's Defense Forces."
Multiple Ukrainian media outlets, including state news agency Ukrinform, citing sources, reported that Kirillov's death came as the result of a "special operation" by the SBU.
However, Ukrainian authorities have not officially commented on the incident.