Click to see full-size image. (Vladimir Smirnov/TASS)
The head of the Operational Training Directorate at the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, was killed in an explosion in southern Moscow on December 22, with investigators suspecting the involvement of Ukrainian security agencies.
Russian Investigative Committee Spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko confirmed the death of Lt. Gen. Sarvarov just a few hours after the explosion took place in the early morning.
“According to an investigation, on the morning of December 22, an explosive device planted under a car was activated on Yasenevaya Street in Moscow. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the General Staff’s Operational Training Directorate, has died of injuries from the explosion,” Petrenko told TASS.
Moscow’s Main Investigative Directorate has opened a criminal case and that investigators are pursuing several theories, according to Petrenko.
“One of them is that the crime was organized by the Ukrainian security agencies,” she was quoted as saying.
In a sign of possible Ukrainian involvement, Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleksiy Goncharenko wrote on Telegram “What a nice morning!” around the time the assassination took place.
Lt. Gen. Sarvarov, 56, received multiple state awards during his career, including the Order of Courage, the Suvorov Medal, in addition to the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, first and second class. The commander was involved in the planning of military operations in Syria in 2015, before being appointed head of the General Staff’s Operational Training Directorate in 2016.
The deadly explosion in Moscow was the latest episode in a series of assassinations linked to Ukraine that targeted not only Russian military personnel, but also civilians.
The series began with the killing of Darya Dugina, a journalist and the daughter of political philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, on a road near Moscow on August 20 of 2022, and regained attention with the assassination of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, in the Russian capital on December 17 of 2024.
Earlier this year, specifically on April 27, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate, General Staff, was also killed in Moscow.
Russia’s Federal Security Service, more known by its acronym FSB, foiled many other assassination attempts over the last three years or so, with Ukrainian security agencies suspected in most cases.
On September 18, the FSB announced that it had thwarted an attempted car bombing targeting the head of a defense industry enterprise in St. Petersburg, detaining three suspects linked to Ukrainian security agencies.
The security agency on November 14 foiled a more sophisticated terrorist attack against a top Russian official. The plot involved an explosion that was to be carried out at the grave of the official’s loved ones in a Moscow cemetery using a video camera hidden inside a vase of flowers, the agency said at the time.
This escalation is a direct result of Ukraine’s recent defeats on the battlefield. Kiev believes that such acts could make up for the territories its forces are losing everyday.
Drone and missile attacks on Russian territories have grown less effective over the past year, pushing Ukraine to pursue tactics usually followed by criminal and terrorist groups. This involves, in addition to the assassinations, the recent attacks on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.
Meanwhile, Russia maintains a strict military approach, responding to such attacks with group strikes on the Ukrainian military in Ukraine, and more importantly by expanding its ground operations.
Moscow maintains this stance most likely because it believes that the recent Ukrainian escalation is in part meant to provoke some reaction that Kiev could use to torpedo ongoing peace efforts and solicit more support from its backers in the West.
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don’t expect trump’s plan to succeed because it was bought with russia’s betrayal of syria. a democrat will come and undo it and then putin will see that he betrayed syria for the minsk 3 agreement. payday is approaching and russia will pay for its betrayal of syria. putler is now replacing his killed officers with those assad officers he had previously kidnapped in syria. plush hello kitties won’t save russia from nato when kazakhstan becomes a member of nato.
what are you babbling about?
just don’t pay attention.
what plan? ffs, trump doesn’t have a plan, he doesn’t do plans. he just does…whatever he’s told. putin does need to do one thing however. he should tell the brits any more of their attacks will net them the same. then blowup one of their biggest zionists in the middle of the city of london, next to a bank. that’s what it’ll take. then blame it on the u.s. or ukr. or maybe just blow up sas headquarters.
he never does anything cool like that, he always just strikes some random targets in ukraine and calls it a day
trump has orders and talking points. like a good puppet
what color crayon tastes the best? you sound like somebody that listens to western media too much. just rambling, blabbering and incoherent false claims
time to use some more of fab-3000 or fab-4500.
time that putin left to play the good cop and the business manager and star attacking the maidan nest in kiev, beside petrol vessel on its way to eu countries.
you can’t make deals with brutal ukrainian leaders, fanatical eu leaders, or tricky us leaders. defeating them on the battlefield is all they will understand.
totally true and correct
a small remote control car/drone could easily attach a magnetic explosive charge underneath a vehicle, may be it is better to use mass transit.
or keep your vehicle in a secure garage?
yes but if they know your routine they could have the fpv rc car waiting near a stop or red light and then attach it.
yeah man. that’s why i prefer to ride my 3 speed schwinn banana bicycle to the department of war, and always on the sidewalk.😂
what i would say is security was catastrophic, this has happened before so this is inexcusable security failure.
is he the officer who sent russian forces in to murder ukes in their cars behind enemy lines.
what goes around comes around.
why does russia scream foul everytime the ukes succeed at doing what russia does.
russia is no different than the other zionist run countries (their partners in kissing israeli ass.)
no because unfortunately thathas not heppened, russia should have taken the entire ukrainian leadership out years ago.
poor guy would probably still be alive if putin had toppled the nazi junta in kiev by now
krieg dem kriege
british france,turkey,usa,israel and germany driving serious intelligence planing and sharing against all soft targets of russia by aiding zelenski. putin should stop by acting like switchboard operator.
if you want to talk to trump you rather go through vance and rubio. but if you want to talk to putin you just call and he answer thats what make russia weak.that is why trump openly hijack venezuela oil.
i’ll say it again for anyone still watching this folly with the russian federation’s one arm tied behind it’s back by the usury brigade that owns poutine… why aren’t these act(s) being reciprocated on the husband wife team that live down the lane from langley virginia?… strange that given all their contribution to this mayhem starting with pnac 1999 and then of course madain 2014 they still live?…
putin are openly insult by everyone because of his weakness,during minks take it or leave it agreement putin sign documents without consulting his administration.in the process just as he betrayed assad west betrayed him also.during israel/iran war as trump mediator he betrayed iran think usa will destroy iran.only china and iran will safe venezuela and medvedev not putin trump control him.
fsb can detect who was present by their mac address and it will not take long for them to be discovered.
i hope the whole network that enabled and assisted is caught and exposed globally. including langley, london and brussels associates. looks like an israeli sacarii assassination