Targeted Explosion in Moscow Kills Senior Russian Military Officer

A senior Russian military officer has been killed following a car explosion in Moscow, after early reports initially described the incident as an assassination attempt that left him critically injured.

Information circulating online in the morning claimed that an attack had targeted Major General Fanil Sarvarov of the Russian Armed Forces. Russian Telegram channels reported that the blast occurred in the courtyard of a residential building on Yaseneva Street, in the southern part of the capital, as the officer was getting into his vehicle.

According to these reports, the 56 year old general had just sat in his Kia Sorento and started to move off when an explosion detonated. The car was heavily damaged. Sarvarov was pulled from the wreckage with multiple shrapnel injuries and fractures and was rushed to hospital in serious condition.

Later in the day, Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed that the victim, identified as Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, had died from his injuries. Investigators said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device that had been deliberately planted under the driver’s seat, indicating a targeted attack.

The criminal case is being handled under articles related to murder committed in a way that endangered the public, as well as the illegal possession and trafficking of explosive materials. The explosion also damaged several nearby vehicles, according to official statements.

Russian authorities have said one of the working hypotheses is that the killing may be linked to Ukrainian intelligence services, as similar attacks inside Russia have previously been attributed to Kyiv. Russian media noted that Ukrainian officials have in the past been accused of using explosive devices to eliminate military officers and public figures.

The incident has revived memories of earlier attacks, including one in December last year when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces, along with his aide. That attack was described by investigators as a Ukrainian special operation.

Against this backdrop, earlier reports also recalled recent claims by Ukrainian media that fighters from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence agency carried out retaliatory operations on Russian territory. According to RBC Ukraine, one such operation took place near the settlement of Shchitova in Primorsky Krai, where the 47th Separate Air Assault Battalion of the 155th Guards Marine Brigade is stationed. That unit has been involved in combat near Kyiv, Vuhledar, Mariupol, as well as in the Kursk and Pokrovsk directions.

Ukrainian intelligence was also reported to have killed a lieutenant colonel of Russia’s National Guard, Rosgvardia, along with two other servicemen near the settlement of Tambukan in Stavropol Krai.

Details of Sarvarov’s career have since emerged. He was a professional officer with combat experience from counterterrorism operations in southern Russia in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2016, he was appointed to head the department responsible for operational training of senior officers through staff exercises and other large scale drills. Earlier in his career, he was also involved in Russia’s military deployment in Syria.