Car bomb kills senior Russian general; Moscow points finger at Ukraine

by · UPI

Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A senior Russian general in charge of training was killed by a car bomb outside his home Monday morning in the Moscow suburbs. Authorities said the attack may have been carried out by Ukrainian intelligence.

Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head of the Operational Training Directorate at the General Staff, died of his injuries after a device planted beneath his vehicle detonated at an apartment building in south Moscow, Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told TASS.

She said investigators were on the scene and a murder investigation had been launched, as well as an explosives trafficking probe, with multiple lines of inquiry being pursued.

"One of them is that the crime was organized by the Ukrainian security agencies," said Petrenko.

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The decorated general had led the General Staff's Operational Training Directorate since 2016. Prior to that he was involved in the planning and execution of the Russian Armed Forces' military operations in Syria.

In April, general staff colleague, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, was killed by a car bomb as he left his apartment in Balashikha, just east of Moscow. Moskalik headed the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff.

The investigative committee said the explosion that killed Moskalik was caused by an improvised explosive device packed with shrapnel and that Ukrainian involvement was suspected.

The attack came on the same day U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on U.S. efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Two days later, the Federal Security Service arrested 41-year-old Ukrainian national Ignat Kuzin and accused him of planting the IED. However, Russian officials said the bomb was remotely detonated from Ukrainian territory.

Kuzin appeared in a military court in Moscow last month on charges of preparing an act of terrorism.

In August 2022, Darya Dugina, daughter of a staunch supporter of Putin and Russian nationalism, was killed by a car bomb in a village 25 miles southwest of Moscow.

Ukraine quickly sought to distance itself, blaming "various political factions" for the death of Dugina, daughter of influential Ukraine hawk and ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugin.

The pair were sanctioned by the United States and Britain for their efforts to undermine Ukraine, with Britain's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation calling Dugina a "frequent and high-profile contributor of disinformation in relation to Ukraine and the Russian invasion of Ukraine on various online platforms."

Dugin's Eurasianist philosophy was said to have helped inform the expansionist foreign policy being pursued by Putin.

Ukraine has mostly neither admitted nor denied attacks on individuals but has openly targeted Russian cities with drones, on and off, and more recently run a sustained campaign targeting Russia's energy infrastructure, mainly oil refineries and logistics, with the aim of disrupting Russia's fighting capability.

It has also hit military targets on Russian territory, occupied Crimea, and in the Black Sea.

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