The Investigative Committee identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, according to RT.
A senior Russian military officer has been killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow, authorities said, in what investigators described as a possible targeted assassination.
The Investigative Committee identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, according to RT.
According to the committee, an explosive device was planted underneath the vehicle in which Sarvarov was traveling and detonated on Monday morning in southern Moscow.
The blast damaged several nearby vehicles and seriously injured Sarvarov’s driver, Russian media reported. Emergency services responded to the scene, and a criminal investigation has been opened into the killing.
Russian officials said one line of inquiry is that the attack was carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services. They pointed to previous cases in which explosive devices were allegedly used in targeted killings of Russian officials and public figures. Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the incident.
The killing comes amid heightened security concerns in Russia following a series of high-profile attacks. In December, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces, and his aide were killed by a bomb concealed in an electric scooter, an attack Russian investigators also blamed on Ukrainian operatives.
Sarvarov, 56, was a career officer with decades of service. According to the Defense Ministry’s website, he gained combat experience during counterterrorism operations in southern Russia in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
He was appointed in 2016 to lead the department responsible for training senior officers during staff exercises and other major military events, and later took part in Russia’s military deployment in Syria.
Investigators said forensic examinations and technical analyses of the explosive device are ongoing as authorities work to determine who was responsible for the attack.