By Emmanuel Nduka Obisue
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow early Monday, in the latest high-profile assassination of a top military figure, coming just hours after Russian and Ukrainian officials held separate talks in the United States on efforts to end the war.
While Kyiv has not commented on the incident, Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was linked to Ukrainian special services.
Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head of the Russian General Staff’s training department, was killed when an explosive device planted under his parked vehicle detonated in a residential area of southern Moscow, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee.
The attack bears similarities to previous assassinations of Russian generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed or widely attributed to Ukraine since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.
AFP journalists at the scene reported a badly mangled white Kia SUV, with its doors and rear window blown out and the frame twisted and charred by the explosion. Security forces cordoned off the area as investigators combed through debris, while witnesses reported hearing a loud blast.
“We absolutely didn’t expect it. We thought we were safe, and then this happens right next to us,” said Tatiana, a 74-year-old local resident. Another resident, Grigory, 70, said the windows rattled from the explosion, adding: “We need to treat it more calmly. It’s the cost of war.”
In a statement, the Investigative Committee said it was pursuing “several lines of enquiry,” including the possible involvement of Ukrainian special services.
Sarvarov served in Russia’s military campaigns in the North Caucasus, including Chechnya in the 1990s, and later commanded Russian forces in Syria in 2015–2016, according to his official biography.
The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the killing, which came after three days of talks in Miami as Washington intensifies efforts to broker an end to the nearly four-year conflict.
Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and US special envoy Steve Witkoff said progress had been made during the talks, while Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev also met with the US delegation, which included Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Witkoff described the meetings as “productive and constructive.”
However, an initial US-backed 28-point peace plan, which aligned with several of Moscow’s core demands, triggered alarm in Kyiv and European capitals. Ukraine and its allies have since sought revisions, though Kyiv says it is still being asked to make sweeping concessions, including ceding the entire eastern Donbas region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed doubts over Russia’s commitment to ending the war, which has killed tens of thousands and devastated large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Since the invasion began, several attacks have targeted Russian military officials and pro-Kremlin figures. In April, a car bomb near Moscow killed General Yaroslav Moskalik, a senior General Staff official. In December 2024, the head of Russia’s radiological, chemical and biological defence forces, Igor Kirillov, was killed in a scooter bombing in Moscow claimed by Ukraine’s SBU. Other victims include military blogger Maxim Fomin and Daria Dugina, daughter of ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin.
