A senior Russian general, Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, was killed in a car blast in southern Moscow on Monday, investigators said. The explosion occurred in the Yasenevo district while Sarvarov, head of the operational training department within the General Staff, was en route to work. Witnesses reported that he was initially alive but critically injured before succumbing to his wounds.
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Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, has opened an investigation into Sarvarov’s death, classifying it as a “murder.” Authorities said one line of inquiry involves a possible link to Ukrainian special forces. The general was 56 years old and held a senior role in training and operational planning for the Russian armed forces.
💥In Moscow, a car exploded in which Major General Fanil Sarvarov was, and the scumbag died as a result of the explosion.
He held the position of head of the operational training department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. He participated in the war in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/BzyBtHrkdb
— ꑭOstap Vyshnya 🇺🇦 (@VyshnyaOstap) December 22, 2025
The incident is the latest in a series of attacks targeting Russian military officials and pro-Kremlin figures since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Previous attacks have included car explosions, booby-trapped devices, and targeted assassinations in Moscow and other cities. Such incidents have frequently been attributed to Ukrainian security forces by Russian authorities.
Notable past attacks include the killing of General Yaroslav Moskalik in a car blast near Moscow in April and Igor Kirillov, head of Russia’s radiological, chemical, and biological defence forces, in December 2024 by a booby-trapped electric scooter. Other victims include military blogger Maxim Fomin, killed by an exploding statuette in Saint Petersburg in April 2023, and Daria Dugina, the daughter of ultranationalist ideologue Alexander Dugin, in a car bomb in August 2022.
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Sarvarov’s death underscores ongoing security concerns in Russia and highlights the risks faced by high-ranking military personnel amid the broader conflict in Ukraine. Investigators continue to probe the circumstances of the blast and possible external involvement.