Russian General Killed in Car Bombing in Moscow

A high-ranking Russian military officer has been killed in a car bombing incident in Moscow, according to officials from the Investigative Committee of Russia. Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, aged 56, died on Monday morning following the detonation of an explosive device that had been concealed beneath his vehicle.

This incident marks the third assassination of a military figure in the Russian capital over the past year. Sarvarov was serving as the head of the operational training department within the Russian armed forces at the time of his death.

Initial investigations suggest that Ukrainian intelligence services may have been involved, although Ukraine has not yet issued a statement regarding the matter. The Investigative Committee has opened a case focusing on murder and the illegal trafficking of explosives.

Authorities have dispatched investigators to the scene, located in a car park adjacent to an apartment complex in southern Moscow. Images from the site depict a severely damaged white Kia Sorento, its doors blown off, surrounded by other vehicles in the vicinity.

Reports from Russian media indicate that Sarvarov had a history of active participation in military operations, having been involved in conflicts such as the Ossetian-Ingush conflict and the Chechen wars during the 1990s and early 2000s. He also led Russian military efforts in Syria between 2015 and 2016.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that President Vladimir Putin was promptly informed of Sarvarov's death. The assassination follows a pattern of targeted attacks on military personnel and other influential figures in Russia, particularly since the onset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Among the previous victims of such attacks is Darya Dugina, the 29-year-old daughter of a well-known nationalist and close ally of Putin, who was killed in a suspected car bombing in 2022. Additionally, General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a similar explosion last April, while General Igor Kirillov died in December 2024 when a remotely detonated device hidden in a scooter was triggered.

A source close to Ukrainian intelligence suggested that Kirillov's assassination was orchestrated by Ukraine's security services, although this assertion has not been officially confirmed. Ukraine maintains a policy of neither confirming nor denying responsibility for targeted operations against military figures in Russia.