MOSCOW: A senior Russian military commander was killed in a car bomb explosion in southern Moscow on Monday morning, marking the latest in a series of high-profile attacks targeting Russian army figures. The blast occurred only hours after Russian and Ukrainian representatives held separate talks in Miami on proposals aimed at ending the war.
Kyiv has not issued any statement on the incident, while Russian investigators said they were examining whether the explosion was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces”.
The attack followed a pattern similar to previous assassinations of senior generals and pro-war figures, which have either been claimed by Ukraine or are widely believed to have been carried out by Ukrainian operatives.
Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, who headed the Russian General Staff’s training department, was killed when an explosive device planted beneath his parked vehicle detonated in a residential area of southern Moscow.
Journalists at the scene observed a badly damaged white Kia SUV, with its doors and rear window blown out. The vehicle’s frame was warped and scorched by the explosion.
Security forces sealed off the area as investigators combed through the wreckage. Witnesses said they heard a powerful blast.
“We absolutely didn’t expect it. We thought we were safe, and then this happens right next to us,” said Tatiana, 74, a local resident.
“The windows rattled, you could tell it was an explosion,” said Grigory, 70, who declined to give his surname.
“We need to treat it more calmly. It’s the cost of war,” he added.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which handles major criminal cases, said it was “working through various lines of enquiry into the murder. One of them involves the possible organisation of the crime by Ukrainian special services”.
According to his official biography on the defence ministry’s website, Sarvarov took part in Russia’s military campaigns in the North Caucasus, including Chechnya during the 1990s. He also led Russian forces in Syria in 2015–16.
Talks intensify
The Kremlin confirmed that President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the killing, which followed three days of talks in Miami as the United States steps up diplomatic efforts to bring the four-year conflict to an end.
Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and US special envoy Steve Witkoff described the discussions as showing “progress” on Sunday.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev also held meetings with the US delegation, which included Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
Witkoff also described the talks as “productive and constructive”.
An initial 28-point peace proposal presented by Trump reportedly aligned with Moscow’s key demands, prompting concern in Kyiv and European capitals. Since then, Ukraine and its allies have sought to revise the plan, though Kyiv maintains it is still being pressed to make major concessions, including relinquishing the entire eastern Donbas region to Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has voiced doubts about Moscow’s willingness to end the war, which has killed tens of thousands and devastated large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
On Monday, the Kremlin also rejected claims that it seeks to revive the Soviet Union or seize all of Ukraine and additional territory in eastern Europe, following a Reuters report citing US intelligence assessments that President Putin aims for far more than control over eastern Ukraine.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv has been accused of carrying out several attacks against Russian military officials and pro-Kremlin figures inside Russia and in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.
In April, General Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the General Staff, was killed in a car bombing near Moscow. In December 2024, Igor Kirillov, chief of Russia’s radiological, chemical and biological defence forces, died when a booby-trapped electric scooter exploded in Moscow an attack later claimed by Ukraine’s SBU security service.
Earlier incidents include the killing of Russian military blogger Maxim Fomin in April 2023, when an explosive device hidden in a statuette detonated in a café in Saint Petersburg, and the August 2022 car bombing that killed Daria Dugina, the daughter of ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin.
