A senior Russian general was killed in a car bombing in Moscow early Monday in what investigators suggest may have been a targeted assassination linked to the war in Ukraine. Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, who oversaw army operational training for Russia's General Staff, died after an explosive device detonated under his SUV as he pulled out of a parking spot in southern Moscow just before 7am local time, according to Russia's Investigative Committee. Video released by the committee showed the SUV with a door blown off and blood visible on the driver's seat, per Reuters.
Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said forensic teams were collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses, and reviewing surveillance footage. She said several possible motives were under review, including "the possible role of Ukrainian intelligence services in organizing the crime." Kyiv has not commented. An unofficial Ukrainian website, Myrotvorets, which tracks people it labels as enemies of Ukraine, updated its entry on the 56-year-old Sarvarov to mark him as "liquidated."
The killing adds to a series of attacks on Russian military officials and prominent supporters of the war since the invasion of Ukraine began nearly four years ago. Previous car bomb victims in or near Moscow have included Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, whose death was claimed by Ukraine's security agency; Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik; and Darya Dugina, the daughter of a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, per the BBC and Washington Post. A Kremlin rep said Putin was informed of Sarvarov's death immediately.