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A Russian general was killed in a car bomb explosion in Moscow on Monday, with investigators saying they suspect Ukrainian intelligence may have been behind the attack.
Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, was targeted in the bombing and died of his injuries. He was the third senior Russian military officer to be killed in a bombing this year.
“Investigators are conducting a number of lines of inquiry in connection with the murder. One of which is that the crime was committed by Ukrainian intelligence services,” said Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin was immediately informed about Sarvarov’s murder.
Putin rejects key parts of US peace plan as Kremlin official warns Europe faces new war risks: report
This undated image provided by the Russian Defense Ministry press service on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, shows Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, who was killed after an explosive device detonated under his car in southern Moscow on Monday morning. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, Sarvarov previously fought in Chechnya and took part in Moscow’s military campaign in Syria.
The Ukrainian military has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Before Sarvarov, Russia lost Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of its nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, in a similar bombing earlier this year. The Ukrainian army took responsibility for that attack.
Putin ridicules European leaders as he insists Russia’s war goals in Ukraine will be achieved by force or diplomacy
Policemen secure the area near the scene where Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, was killed by an explosive device placed under his car on Monday, December 22, 2025 in Moscow. (AP photo)
Russian military officer Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalyk was also killed in a car bomb explosion in Moscow in April.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after that attack that he had received reports about the successful “liquidation” of Russian military leaders, although he did not mention Moskalyk directly.
Monday’s bombings come as Ukraine, Russia and the United States remain in peace talks. Russian officials said they were moving forward “constructively” on Sunday as missiles rained down on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa.
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a journalist’s questions during his annual news conference and call-in show at Gostiny Dvor in Moscow on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Putin Friday also noted that the country’s “troops are on the move,” and expressed confidence that Russia will achieve its goals by military force if Ukraine does not accept its peace terms.
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“The goals of the special military operation will undoubtedly be achieved. We would prefer to accomplish this and address the root causes of the conflict through diplomatic means,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
