Russian Lieutenant General Killed in Moscow Car Bomb Amidst Tensions with Ukraine
Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian General Staff's operational training directorate, was killed by a car bomb under his vehicle in a Moscow parking lot on Yaseneva Street at around 07:00 local time on 22 December 2025.
Investigators are exploring multiple lines of inquiry, including the possibility that Ukrainian intelligence services orchestrated the assassination. Svetlana Petrenko, spokesperson for Russia's Investigative Committee, confirmed that Ukrainian involvement remains one of the lines being examined.
This incident follows a similar attack in December 2024, when the Ukrainian security service claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia's military nuclear, biological, and chemical protection forces. Kirillov was killed by a bomb placed on an electric scooter, and his assistant Ilya Polikarpov also died in the attack.
Separately, a Ukrainian drone attack recently damaged two vessels and two piers at the Volna terminal in the Krasnodar region, causing a fire that spread to about 1,500 square meters. All crew members were safely evacuated.
