A senior Russian military official, Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, killed in a car bombing in southern Moscow on Monday according to Russia’s federal investigative authorities.
Sarvarov, who headed the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, died from injuries sustained in the blast.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was “immediately” informed of the attack, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Investigators suspect Ukrainian involvement
Svetlana Petrenko, spokesperson for the Investigative Committee, said investigators are exploring several possible motives behind the killing.
She confirmed that one of the primary lines of inquiry is whether Ukrainian intelligence services orchestrated the attack.
The bombing adds to a growing list of high-profile assassinations and explosions that Moscow has blamed on Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In April this year, General Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head in the General Staff was killed in a similar car blast near Moscow.
Russia has also accused Ukraine’s security service of carrying out the December 2024 attack that killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of Russia’s nuclear biological and chemical protection forces.
Kirillov and his assistant died when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter exploded outside his home.
Other high-profile cases include the killing of military blogger Maxim Fomin in a St. Petersburg café in 2023 and the August 2022 car bombing that killed Daria Dugina, daughter of nationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin.
Russian officials say the latest attack highlights ongoing security challenges as the conflict with Ukraine continues.
Read more: Pakistan and Iraq Vow to Jointly Fight Extremism, Terrorism and Narco Trade
