Car Bomb Kills Senior Russian General; Investigators Probe Possible Ukraine Link
Car bomb kills Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov.
A senior Russian military officer, Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, was killed in southern Moscow on Monday when an explosive device detonated beneath his vehicle. Russia's Investigative Committee, responsible for probing major crimes, confirmed the incident and classified it as a murder, promptly launching a formal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack.
Lieutenant General Sarvarov served as the head of the training department within the Russian General Staff, a critical position overseeing military preparedness. Investigators have indicated that one primary line of inquiry explores potential links to Ukrainian special forces, reflecting heightened suspicions amid the ongoing conflict between the two nations.
The assassination fits into a pattern of targeted attacks on Russian military figures and pro-Kremlin individuals since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Ukrainian authorities have been accused of orchestrating several such operations both within Russian territory and in occupied regions of Ukraine, though responsibility is often disputed.
Notable previous incidents include the April killing of General Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy in the General Staff, in a car explosion near Moscow; the December 2024 death of Igor Kirillov, chief of Russia's radiological, chemical, and biological defence forces, from a booby-trapped electric scooter in Moscow—an attack claimed by Ukraine's SBU; the 2023 bombing that killed military blogger Maxim Fomin in Saint Petersburg; and the 2022 car bomb assassination of Daria Dugina, daughter of prominent ultranationalist Alexander Dugin.
This latest incident underscores the escalating risks faced by high-ranking Russian officials on home soil, raising concerns about security vulnerabilities and the prolongation of covert operations tied to the Ukraine conflict. The investigation continues as authorities examine evidence to identify those responsible.
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