War in Ukraine: a general of the Russian General Staff, Fanil Sarvarov, killed in the explosion of his car in Moscow

Major General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the operational training department of the Russian Defense Ministry, was killed this morning when an explosive device detonated under his personal vehicle in the Yasenevo district of Moscow according to multiple sources.

Early Monday morning, a car exploded in the courtyard of a building in southern Moscow, emergency services told the TASS agency. The explosion took place shortly after the driver got into his Kia vehicle. According to Moscow Tilmes, the Russian general traveled a few meters before the vehicle exploded.

After being extracted from the vehicle by rescuers, Fanil Sarvarov was hospitalized in critical condition, suffering from leg injuries and a facial fracture. Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the operational training department within the General Staff, “succumbed to his wounds,” the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement. An investigation into “murder” and “trafficking in explosives” has been opened, according to the same source.

One of the hypotheses considered is that of an improvised explosive device placed under the car. Russian security sources said the victim was Major General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the operational training department of the Russian armed forces.

A criminal investigation launched

According to leaked databases, Sarvarov has owned a quarter of an apartment on Yasenevaya Street in Moscow, the site of the explosion, since 2023. Major General Sarvarov fought in Chechnya and the Ossetian-Ingush conflict for six years, from 1992 to 2003. He also participated in an operation in Syria in 2015-2016.

The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation into the deadly explosion, but the specific charges have not yet been released. However, investigators are examining several avenues, including the potential involvement of Ukrainian special services, according to the Investigative Committee cited by Russian media Sputnik.

It’s hard not to see kyiv’s hand behind this new attack targeting a figure in the Russian army. A new episode in the campaign of targeted assassinations carried out by the two countries? Very likely.

The Moscow prosecutor’s office said Dmitry Tkachev, prosecutor of the Southern Administrative District, is coordinating law enforcement efforts at the scene. This is the second car bomb attack since the beginning of the month. On December 1, a Land Cruiser 200 Prado exploded in the courtyard of a residential building in the New Moscow district. The vehicle belonged to a 41-year-old scientist, doctor of physics and mathematics, specialist in quantum electronics at the Stelmakh Polyus Research Institute in Moscow. This institute, a member of Rostec, develops laser rangefinders and target designators for precision weapons, including missiles. The scientist emerged unscathed from this attack.

Targeted attacks

Since the start of the Russian offensive against its Ukrainian neighbor in February 2022, kyiv has been repeatedly accused of having carried out targeted attacks against Russian personalities and military officials in Russia and in areas occupied by Moscow in Ukraine.

In August 2022, the explosion of a car killed Daria Douguina, the daughter of the ultranationalist ideologue Alexandre Duguine. In April 2023, a Russian military blogger, Maxime Fomin, lost his life in the detonation of a statuette in a cafe in Saint Petersburg. Most recently, in April, General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the General Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff, was killed in a car explosion near Moscow.

In December 2024, the commander of the Russian radiological, chemical and biological defense forces, Igor Kirillov, was killed by the explosion of a booby-trapped electric scooter in Moscow, an assassination which had been claimed by the Ukrainian security services (SBU).