Russian General Killed in Car Bombing in Southern Moscow

A Russian lieutenant general was killed in a car bombing in southern Moscow, with investigators suspecting possible involvement of Ukrainian intelligence. The attack adds to a series of targeted killings of Russian military officials and pro-Kremlin figures since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

A Russian general has been killed in a car bombing in southern Moscow, Russian federal investigators confirmed on Monday, describing the incident as a targeted attack on a senior military official. The explosion occurred while the officer was in his vehicle, and emergency responders rushed him to medical care, but he later died from the injuries he sustained.
The victim was identified as Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, who headed the Operational Training Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. In this role, Sarvarov was responsible for overseeing key aspects of military preparedness and training, making him one of the higher-ranking figures within Russia’s military command structure.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said a full criminal investigation has been launched and that investigators are considering multiple possible motives and perpetrators. According to committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko, one of the main theories being examined is that the killing was organized by Ukrainian intelligence services. She noted that investigators are actively pursuing various leads to establish who carried out the attack and how it was planned.
The incident comes amid a series of high-profile assassinations and attacks targeting Russian military officials and pro-Kremlin figures since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian authorities have repeatedly accused Kyiv of orchestrating or supporting such attacks, both inside Russia and in Ukrainian territories under Russian occupation, although Ukraine often neither confirms nor denies involvement in many of these cases.
Earlier this year, in April, another senior officer, General Yaroslav Moskalik, who served as a deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, was killed in a car explosion near Moscow. That attack heightened concerns within Russian security circles about the safety of senior military leaders even in areas considered heavily protected.
In December 2024, Ukraine’s security service publicly claimed responsibility for an attack that killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s nuclear, biological, and chemical protection forces. Kirillov and his assistant, Ilya Polikarpov, died after a bomb hidden on an electric scooter exploded outside Kirillov’s apartment building, an incident that drew international attention due to Kirillov’s sensitive role within the Russian military.
Other notable assassinations have also marked the conflict period. In April 2023, Russian military blogger Maxim Fomin was killed when an explosive device concealed inside a statuette detonated at a café in St. Petersburg during a public event. In August 2022, Daria Dugina, the daughter of ultranationalist ideologue and Kremlin ally Alexander Dugin, was killed in a car bombing that investigators said was intended for her vehicle, further underscoring the expanding scope of targeted attacks linked to the ongoing war.