Car bomb kills Russian general

MOSCOW, Dec 22 (Reuters/BBC): A Russian general was killed by a car bomb in southern Moscow on Monday, Russian investigators said, adding that they suspected Ukrainian special services could have been behind the attack.

The bomb exploded under the Kia Sorento car driven by Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian General Staff's army operational training directorate, as he left a parking space at 06:55 Moscow time (0355 GMT).

Russia's State Investigative Committee said Sarvarov had died from his injuries. It published video of the wrecked vehicle, with blood visible on the driver's seat and one of the doors blown off.

Svetlana Petrenko, a spokesperson for the committee, said investigators were gathering forensic evidence, questioning witnesses and reviewing security camera footage.

"Various versions for the killing are being examined, one of which involves the possible role of Ukrainian intelligence services in organising the crime," she said.

There was no official comment from Ukraine.

Myrotvorets, an unofficial Ukrainian website that provides a database of people described as war criminals or traitors, updated its entry on Sarvarov to say the 56-year-old had been "liquidated".

A string of Russian military figures and high-profile supporters of Moscow's war in Ukraine have been assassinated during the nearly four-year-old conflict, and Ukrainian military intelligence has said it was responsible for a number of the attacks.

Among those killed in previous car bombings in or near Moscow were a senior member of the General Staff, the chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops and the daughter of a prominent Russian nationalist figure.

Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying President Vladimir Putin had been instantly informed of the attack on Sarvarov.

Images from the area show a badly damaged white car with the doors blown out, surrounded by other vehicles.

According to Russian media, Sarvarov previously took part in combat operations during the Ossetian-Ingush conflict and the Chechen wars in the 1990s and early 2000s, and also led operations in Syria between 2015-2016.

Darya Dugina, the 29-year-old daughter of a prominent nationalist figure and Putin close ally, was killed in a suspected car bombing in 2022.

Gen Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car bomb attack last April, while Gen Igor Kirillov died in December 2024 when a device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely.

A Ukrainian source later told the BBC that Kirillov was killed by Ukraine's security service, though this was never confirmed on the record. As a matter of policy, Ukraine never officially admits or claims responsibility for targeted attacks.