Moscow Explosion Kills 3 People
Three people, including two police officers, were killed in an explosion in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian investigators said, days after the incident. High-ranking general killed by car bomb It’s not too far away.
An official with Ukraine’s military intelligence, known as GUR, told The Associated Press that the attack was carried out as part of an agency operation. Another agency official said police officers were participating in Russia’s war in Ukraine, without providing details. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
Russian officials did not comment on who might be behind the attack. Russian authorities have been blaming Kiev since Moscow invaded nearly four years ago. several assassinations Officers and public figures in Russia. Ukraine claimed responsibility for some of these.
Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement that a bomb exploded as two traffic police officers approached a suspicious person on Wednesday. The officers and another person standing nearby died from their injuries.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs gave the names of the police officers as 24-year-old Lieutenant Ilya Klimanov and 25-year-old Lieutenant Maxim Gorbunov, who joined the Moscow police in October 2023. The statement stated that Gorbunov had a wife and a 9-month-old daughter.
The explosion occurred in the area where Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov is located in the Russian capital. Killed by a car bomb On Monday. Sarvarov was the head of the Operational Training Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
Investigators said they were investigating whether Ukraine was behind this attack. Third killing of a senior officer in just over a year. Ukraine did not comment on this issue.
Ukraine, outnumbered by Russia’s larger and better-equipped army, has frequently tried to turn the tide of the war by attacking in unexpected ways.
In August last year, Ukrainian forces launched an attack. Surprise attack on Russia’s Kursk region Even as we try to stop Russia’s attacks elsewhere. Moscow’s troops eventually drove them out, but the attack diverted Russian military resources and boosted Ukrainian morale.
Drones launched from trucks in June Targeted bomber bases in Russia.
Moscow also blamed Ukraine for the assassinations. About a year ago, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, chief of the army’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed with a bomb hidden on an electric scooter in front of his apartment building. Kirillov’s assistant also died. Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for the attack.
In April, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy chief of the General Staff’s main operations department, was killed by an explosive device planted in his parked car near his apartment building just outside Moscow.
Days after Moskalik’s killing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had received a report from the head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service on the “liquidation” of senior Russian military figures, adding that “justice will inevitably come,” although he did not mention Moskalik by name.
Meanwhile, Western officials blamed Russia. waging a campaign of disruption and sabotage across Europe as part of an effort to cut support for Ukraine. Moscow denied the allegations.
Associated Press writer Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed to this report from Kiev, Ukraine.
