Russian general assassinated in Moscow

Tehran - BORNA - The explosion on Monday morning damaged several vehicles in the southern part of the city and seriously injured the driver, media reports said earlier. Officials later identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff. According to the statement, the explosive device had been planted beneath the vehicle.

Russian officials said one possible line of investigation is an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services.

Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of officials and public figures. Last December, a bomb hidden in an e-scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces, and his aide in what investigators alleged was a Ukrainian plot.

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.

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