E-Paper
Russian ‘military’ officer killed, wife injured after car explodes in St Petersburg: Report
A local newspaper identified the deceased as a lieutenant colonel. The Mash Telegram channel also reported that victims were a military serviceman and his wife
Prefer HTon Google
A car carrying a Russian military serviceman and his wife exploded in St Petersburg on Thursday, killing the man instantly, local media reported. His wife was injured and taken to hospital.
A Russian online newspaper Fontanka identified the deceased as a lieutenant colonel. The Mash Telegram channel also reported that the victims were a military serviceman and his wife, according to a Reuters report.
The blast occurred around 10 am local time near a supermarket in the Sushary, residential neighborhood located in the Pushkinsky district of St. Petersburg. Preliminary reports indicate that an IED exploded inside the vehicle, reported The Moscow Times.
Also Read | CIA chief John Ratcliffe spoke to Russian secret services, Putin aware of his visit: Kremlin
Russia's Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case after a car caught fire, killing one person and injuring another. However, the agency did not identify the deceased as a military officer.
Unverified footage shared by local Telegram channels and other social media channels such as X showed police and emergency personnel at a cordoned-off street, with debris and what appeared to be fragments of the damaged car scattered across the road.
The incident comes amid a series of attacks targeting senior Russian military officials and people linked to Moscow's war effort. Russia has previously accused Ukraine of involvement in several such assassinations, while Ukrainian sources have claimed responsibility for some attacks and denied involvement in others.
Also Read | Russian 'double-tap' strike on shopping centre in Ukraine kills 15 and wounds 130
Reuters reported that there was no immediate comment from Ukraine on Thursday's explosion.
A bomb explosion had killed a Russian military officer earlier in August
The latest incident follows the killing of a Russian military officer in a bomb attack in Crimea on August 13. A woman was subsequently arrested on suspicion of carrying out the assassination on behalf of Ukrainian special services.
A bomb hidden in a trash bin exploded on a residential street in Sevastopol, killing a Russian serviceman, according to Russian media reports. The blast struck a stairwell area on Stoletovsky Avenue as the victim was walking with a companion, based on witness accounts shared by Russian Telegram channels and cited by Euronews.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) later confirmed that a Defence Ministry serviceman had been killed in the explosion. The agency did not identify the victim but said it had detained a Russian woman born in 1994, whom it accused of carrying out the attack on the instructions of Ukrainian intelligence.
(With inputs from Reuters)
