Image Credit: Anadolu / Contributor / Getty 
On Monday morning Russian Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff, was assassinated by a car bomb in Moscow. He initially survived explosion but soon succumbed to his injuries.
“Sarvarov was a career officer with combat experience he received during counterterrorism action in southern Russia in the late 1990s and early 2000s, according to the Defense Ministry’s website. The 56-year-old was appointed in 2016 to lead the department responsible for training senior officers at staff exercises and other events. Previously he was involved in the Russian deployment in Syria,” RT said.
Embed from Getty ImagesMOSCOW, RUSSIA – DECEMBER 22: (—-EDITORIAL USE ONLY MANDATORY CREDIT – ‘MOSCOW INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE / HANDOUT’ – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS—-) A screen grab from a video shows investigators and forensic experts from the Moscow Investigative Committee works at the scene of a car explosion in southern Moscow, Russia on December 22, 2025. Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, Head of the Operational Training Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, lost his life in the explosion. (Photo by Moscow Investigative Committee/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Investigators said the explosive device was planted under the 56-year-old’s car. They also released video of the blast’s aftermath.
Last December Russian Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was killed in a similar attack. In that instance, an explosive device planted on a scooter was remotely detonated near the apartment building he was exiting from.
That terror attack was carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), a source in the agency told the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine takes credit for the assassination of a Russian in general in Moscow with an IED in a scooter outside his apartment pic.twitter.com/SumkBhUP5Q
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) December 17, 2024
In 2022 Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin’s 29-year-old daughter Darya Dugina was killed in a car bombing which was likely targeting him.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) identified Ukrainian national Natalya Vovk as the “prime suspect” in that attack. U.S. intel also concluded Ukraine was behind the bombing.
In April a blast killed Russian Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik who served as the deputy chief of the Russian General Staff’s Main Operational Directorate.
“The pro-Kremlin Telegram news channel Mash reported that his car had been resold at least three times since late January, with the most recent buyer identified as a 40-year-old native of the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy,” The Moscow Times said.
Moscow is now investigating if Kiev was behind Monday’s attack as well. As RT reported:
Russian officials said one line of investigation is an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services, noting that Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of officials and public figures.
