A suspected car bomb in Moscow has killed Lt-Gen Fanil Sarvarov(Image: MoD/east2west news)

Vladimir Putin suffers huge blow as general killed in Moscow car bomb attack

Lt-Gen Fanil Sarvarov, head of the training department of Vladimir Putin's armed forces, died after a huge blast erupted in his Kia Sorento while he made his way to work in Moscow

by · The Mirror

A high-ranking Russian general has been killed in a car bomb explosion.

Lt-Gen Fanil Sarvarov, head of the training department of Vladimir Putin's armed forces, died in the attack on Monday, December 22, it has been confirmed by investigators. Sarvarov reportedly suffered "multiple shrapnel injuries" and a "fractured facial bone" after a huge blast erupted in his Kia Sorento while he made his way to work in the Yasenevo district of Moscow.

Svetlana Petrenko, the official spokesperson for Russia's Investigative Committee, confirmed his death and said Russian authorities had launched an probe into the incident. "Investigators are pursuing numerous lines of enquiry regarding the murder. One of these is that the crime was orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence services," Petrenko said.

Sarvarov, 56, (circled) was on his way to work when he died( Image: social media /east2west news)

Witnesses said extensive efforts were made to free the 56-year-old from his vehicle before he could be transported to hospital.

Sarvarov's wife is also believed to have rushed to the scene of the explosion shortly after 7am but was "not allowed to see her trapped and wounded husband."

At the scene, seven other cars were left damaged by the blast. "At first, we thought a drone had been shot down. There was an explosion, but there was no fire," a local said.

The scene of the blast in Yasenevo, Moscow( Image: Social media/east2west news)

The attack comes after Ukraine was accused of assassinating other senior military figures in Russia. Last year, Lt-Gen Igor Kirillov - who was in charge of Russia's radiation, chemical and biological defence troops - was killed in a blast as he left his apartment building for work.

Major-General Yaroslav Moskalik, 58, also died when a Volkswagen Golf burst into flames as he walked past it close to his residence near Moscow in April this year.

An immediate criminal probe into Sarvarov's death has been launched by the Russian Investigative Committee. A spokesperson previously said: "Investigators and forensic experts from the Moscow Investigative Committee, together with emergency services, are examining the scene. A number of examinations, including medical and explosive examinations, will be scheduled soon."