By Comfort Asemota
A senior Russian military official, Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, has died following a car bombing in Moscow, authorities confirmed.
Russia’s Investigative Committee reported that the 56-year-old general, head of the armed forces’ operational training department, succumbed to injuries sustained after an explosive device detonated beneath his car on Monday morning.
Investigators are exploring multiple theories, including potential involvement of Ukrainian intelligence, although Ukraine has not issued any comment. The committee has opened investigations into murder and illegal trafficking of explosives.
The incident occurred in a parking lot near a residential building in southern Moscow. Photos from the scene show a white car severely damaged, with doors blown out and debris scattered across the area.
Sarvarov had a long military career, participating in combat during the Ossetian-Ingush conflict and the Chechen wars in the 1990s and early 2000s, and leading operations in Syria from 2015 to 2016.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that President Vladimir Putin was informed immediately of Sarvarov’s death.
This attack follows a series of targeted killings of Russian military officials in Moscow since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Notable incidents include the car bombing that killed General Yaroslav Moskalik in April and a remote device explosion in December 2024 that killed General Igor Kirillov. A Ukrainian source later claimed responsibility for Kirillov’s death, although Ukraine does not officially confirm such operations.
