KIEV, June 27 - A high-ranking Ukrainian military intelligence official was killed by a car bomb in Kiev on Tuesday in what authorities said was an “act of terrorism.”

Colonel Maksym Shapoval was killed in the driver’s seat of a Mercedes car at 8:15 am local time in the Solomyansky district, police said. The car was destroyed by the blast and by the fire.

"The national police, rescuers, as well as explosives and forensic experts are working at the scene," the Defense Ministry said in a statement. "The event has been qualified as a terrorist act."