A Russian general was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow, authorities said.

The Russian Investigative Committee said Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov was killed Monday morning in an attack with an explosive device placed under a car.

Sarvarov, 56, was the head of the Operational Training Department of the Russian armed forces, the committee added. Authorities also indicated that one of the theories being investigated is that Ukrainian intelligence services were involved in planting the bomb. This country has not yet commented on the matter.

Following the explosion, the general was trapped in the vehicle, but was rescued and later died in the hospital from his injuries, the committee said, adding that an investigation for murder and illegal arms trafficking had been launched.

The attack occurred in a parking lot near an apartment building in the south of the Russian capital.

Images from the scene show a badly damaged white car, with its doors ripped off, surrounded by other vehicles.

President Vladimir Putin was informed of Sarvarov's death immediately, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Who was Fanil Sarvarov?

According to Russian media, Sarvarov participated in combat operations during the Ossetian-Ingush conflict and the Chechen wars in the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as leading operations in Syria between 2015 and 2016. and 2016.

The officer graduated from the Kazan Higher Tank Command School and subsequently studied at the Malinovsky Military Academy of Armored Forces and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

According to the Kommersant newspaper, after graduating from the academy he continued serving in the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff and in the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces.

Since 2016, the general has held the position of head of this directorate.

In May 2024,By decree of the President of Russia, he was granted the rank of lieutenant general.

Assassination Attempts Against Russian Military Personnel

This is not the first assassination attempt against a high-ranking Russian military officer since the start of Russia's war against Ukraine.

In December 2024, an explosion occurred near a residential building on Ryazanskiy Prospekt in Moscow, killing Igor Kirillov, head of the Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, and his assistant, Ilya Polikarpov.

Authorities indicated that the attack was caused by an improvised explosive device placed on an electric scooter, left at the entrance of the building where Kirillov lived.

That same year, in July, another explosion was recorded under a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado in the courtyard of a building on Sinyavinskaya Street, also in Moscow.

The owner of the A Russian Defense Ministry officer and his wife were injured in the vehicle explosion. They survived, although the officer suffered foot injuries; authorities have not released his name.

The man accused of the attack, Yevgeny Serebryakov, 30, a resident of the Volgograd region, fled to Turkey, was extradited to Russia, and, after his arrest, partially admitted his guilt. He stated that he wanted to “stop the war” with the attack.

In 2025, Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff, was assassinated in Balashikha, Moscow region.

A car was used again in the attack; this time a Volkswagen Golf exploded on Nesterov Street.

As a matter of policy, Ukraine never officially admits to or claims responsibility for targeted attacks.