Russian general killed in car bomb in Moscow

A Russian general has been killed in a car bombing in Moscow, officials said.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said Lt. Gen. Panil Sarbarov died Monday morning after an explosive device planted underneath his vehicle detonated.

The committee added that Sarbarov, 56, was the head of the military’s operational training department.

One theory being investigated is that the bomb was planted with the involvement of Ukrainian intelligence. Ukraine did not comment.

Sarbarov died in hospital from his injuries, the committee said, adding that it had opened an investigation into murder and illegal trafficking of explosives.

Investigators were sent to the scene in a parking lot near an apartment complex in the south of the Russian capital.

Images from the area show a heavily damaged white car with a door blown off, surrounded by other vehicles.

According to Russian media, Sarbarov participated in combat operations during the Ossetian-Ingush conflict and the Chechen war in the 1990s and early 2000s, and also led operations in Syria in 2015-2016.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin was immediately notified of Sarbarov’s death.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, numerous military officials and public figures have been targeted in the Russian capital.

Darya Duzina, 29, the daughter of a prominent nationalist figure and a close ally of Putin, was killed in an alleged car bombing in 2022.

General Yaroslav Moskalyk was killed in a car bomb attack in April, and General Igor Kirillov was killed in December 2024 when a device hidden on his scooter was remotely detonated.

Ukrainian sources later told the BBC that Kirillov was killed by Ukrainian security services, but this has not been confirmed on record. In accordance with its policy, Ukraine does not formally acknowledge or claim responsibility for targeted attacks.