A senior Russian military official has been killed after a car bomb exploded in Moscow, according to Russian authorities.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, 56, died on Monday morning after an explosive device planted beneath a vehicle detonated. Sarvarov was head of the armed forces’ operational training department and succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
The committee confirmed it has opened a criminal investigation into murder and the illegal trafficking of explosives. Investigators were dispatched to the scene, a parking area near an apartment complex in southern Moscow.
Images from the site showed a heavily damaged white car with its doors blown open, surrounded by other vehicles affected by the blast.
Investigation and Security Concerns
Russian authorities said one line of inquiry is whether Ukrainian intelligence services were involved in planting the bomb. Ukraine has not issued any official comment regarding the allegation.
The Investigative Committee stated that all scenarios are being examined, but emphasized that no conclusions have yet been reached. Officials said further forensic analysis is underway to determine how the explosive device was planted and detonated.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that President Vladimir Putin was informed of Sarvarov’s death shortly after the incident.
According to Russian media reports, Sarvarov previously participated in combat operations during the Ossetian-Ingush conflict and the Chechen wars in the 1990s and early 2000s. He also reportedly played a role in Russian military operations in Syria between 2015 and 2016.
Pattern of Targeted Attacks
Sarvarov’s death adds to a growing list of high-profile attacks in Moscow since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In 2022, Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent nationalist figure, was killed in a suspected car bombing. More recently, General Yaroslav Moskalik died in a similar attack last April, while General Igor Kirillov was killed in December 2024 after an explosive device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely.
A Ukrainian source later told the BBC that Kirillov’s killing was carried out by Ukraine’s security services, though the claim was never officially confirmed. As a matter of policy, Ukraine does not publicly acknowledge responsibility for targeted operations.
The latest bombing is likely to intensify security measures in the Russian capital and further heighten tensions amid the ongoing war.