A Russian general was killed Monday after a bomb exploded under his car in Moscow, officials said.
Russian investigators said they were looking into whether Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov was assassinated by Ukrainian intelligence services.
NBC News has asked the Ukrainian government for a response.
Sarvarov, 56, was head of the operational training directorate of Russia’s armed forces general staff.
On Monday morning “an explosive device planted under the bottom of a car was detonated” on Yasenevaya Street in the south of the city, Russian Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement.
“Investigators are pursuing various theories regarding the murder,” Petrenko said. “One of them is that the crime was orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence agencies.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin had been “immediately” told about the incident, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
If confirmed, it would not be the first time Ukraine has carried out the assassination of a top general deep inside Russia.
In April, it claimed responsibility for killing Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik in a car bomb near the Russian capital. And in December 2024, it said it was behind the death of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s chemical, radiological and biological weapons unit.
As well as high profile assassinations, Ukraine has also demonstrated its ability to reach far inside Russia to strike the Kremlin’s warplanes and ships.
In June, Operation Spiderweb saw Ukraine unleash swarms of drones at several Russian airfields, destroying at least 10 planes and damaging dozens of others. This month, Kyiv said one of its underwater drones had taken out a Russian submarine at a Black Sea port, a claim Russia denied.
The general’s killing comes after a new round of talks was held over the weekend as President Donald Trump pushes for a peace deal.
Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev was set to report to the Russian leader Monday after arriving back from talks with members of Trump’s team in Miami, Peskov said.
Dmitriev said Saturday the talks had been “proceeding constructively” with Trump’s own special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Meanwhile Witkoff met separately with Ukrainian and European representatives, calling those discussions “productive and constructive.”
Despite the positive words, the White House’s monthslong push for peace has so far failed to bridge the gap between Moscow’s maximalist demands and the grave concerns held by Kyiv and Europe.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
