MOSCOW — A senior Russian military officer was killed Monday after a car bomb detonated in the Russian capital, authorities said, in what investigators described as a targeted attack amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Russia’s Investigative Committee identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, who oversaw the armed forces’ operational training department. Officials said an explosive device concealed beneath a vehicle’s chassis detonated in the morning hours in a residential parking area, fatally wounding the general.
Investigators said several motives are under review, adding that one working theory points to involvement by Ukrainian special services. No public evidence was released to support the claim, and the probe remains ongoing.
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was promptly informed of Sarvarov’s death through security channels.
Pattern of High-Profile Attacks
The killing is the latest in a series of high-profile deaths in Moscow involving explosions or shootings since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russian officials have repeatedly accused Ukrainian intelligence of orchestrating such attacks, accusations Kyiv typically neither confirms nor comments on.
State television footage aired Monday showed a severely damaged vehicle surrounded by debris in what appeared to be a middle-class neighborhood, highlighting the precision of the blast.
Military Career
According to TASS, Sarvarov led the military’s training department for nearly nine years. The 56-year-old had previously been involved in organizing Russian military operations in Syria, where Moscow supported the government of Bashar al-Assad.
Russian authorities said forensic work and witness interviews are continuing as security services assess whether the attack signals an escalation in covert operations linked to the conflict.