A Russian general was killed in a car bomb explosion in southern Moscow on Monday, Russian investigators said, adding that they suspected Ukrainian special services of being behind the attack.
The bomb exploded under the Kia Sorento car driven by Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Army Operational Training Directorate at the Russian General Staff, as he was leaving a parking lot at 6:55 a.m. Moscow time.
Russia’s State Investigative Committee said Sarvarov died from his injuries and released video of the crashed vehicle, with blood visible on the driver’s seat and one of the doors smashed.
Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for the committee, said investigators were gathering forensic evidence, interviewing witnesses and analyzing security camera footage.
“Several versions of the murder are being studied, one of which involves the possible role of Ukrainian intelligence services in organizing the crime,” she said.
There has been no official comment from Ukraine.
Myrotvorets, an unofficial Ukrainian website that provides a database of people described as war criminals or traitors, updated its article on Sarvarov to say the 56-year-old had been “liquidated.”
A number of Russian military figures and high-profile supporters of Moscow’s war in Ukraine have been assassinated during the nearly four-year conflict, and Ukrainian military intelligence has said they were responsible for several attacks.
Those killed in previous car bombings in or near Moscow include a senior General Staff official, the head of Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection troops and the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist figure.
According to the Interfax news agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin was immediately informed of the attack on Sarvarov.
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