Russia has blamed a series of other apparent assassinations on Ukraine.
Just over a year ago, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building. Kirillov’s assistant also died. Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for the attack.
Sarvarov is the third Russian general killed by a car bomb in the past year.Credit: AP
An Uzbek man was quickly arrested and charged with killing Kirillov on behalf of the Ukrainian security service.
Putin described Kirillov’s killing as a “major blunder” by Russia’s security agencies, noting they should learn from it and improve their efficiency.
In April, another senior Russian military officer, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car parked near his apartment building just outside Moscow. A suspected perpetrator was quickly arrested.
Days after Moskalik’s killing, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he received a report from the head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence agency on the “liquidation” of top Russian military figures, adding that “justice inevitably comes” although he didn’t mention Moskalik’s name.
High-profile Russians assassinated since start of Ukraine war
December 22, 2025: Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov is killed by a bomb that explodes under his Kia Sorento in southern Moscow. Sarvarov was head of the Russian General Staff’s army operational training directorate. Russian investigators say they suspect the involvement of Ukrainian special services. There is no immediate comment from Kyiv on the killing.
April 25, 2025: Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, 59, is killed by a car bomb near Moscow. Moskalik was deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff.
December 17, 2024: Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was chief of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, is killed outside a Moscow apartment building along with his assistant when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter goes off.
November 13, 2024: A bomb planted under a car kills a Russian serviceman in Sevastopol in Russia-annexed Crimea. A Ukrainian security source names him as Valery Trankovsky, a Russian naval captain whom Kyiv accused of war crimes for ordering missile strikes on civilian targets.
October 4, 2024: Andrei Korotkiy, an employee at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine is killed in a car bomb attack. Ukrainian military intelligence calls him a collaborator and a war criminal.
December 6, 2023: Illia Kyva, a former Ukrainian lawmaker regarded by Kyiv as a traitor, is shot dead near Moscow.
July 11, 2023: Russian military officer Stanislav Rzhitsky, who had commanded a submarine in the Black Sea and appeared on a Ukrainian blacklist of alleged war criminals, is shot dead while out on a morning run in the southern city of Krasnodar.
April 2, 2023: Vladen Tatarsky, a pro-war Russian military blogger, is killed by a bomb concealed in a statuette presented to him by a woman in a St Petersburg cafe.
August 20, 2022: Darya Dugina, the daughter of a pro-war nationalist figure, is killed by a car bomb in the Moscow region.Reuters
Ukraine, which is outnumbered by Russia’s larger, better-equipped military, has frequently tried to change the course of the conflict by attacking in unexpected ways.
In August last year, Ukrainian forces staged a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region even as they struggled to stem Russian offensives on many parts of the front line. Moscow’s troops eventually drove them out, but the incursion distracted the Russian military resources from other areas and raised Ukrainian morale.
Ukraine has also launched repeated attacks on the Russian navy in the Black Sea with sea drones and missiles, forcing it to relocate its warships and limit the scale of its operations.
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And in June, swarms of drones launched from trucks targeted bomber bases across Russia. Ukraine said more than 40 long-range bombers were damaged or destroyed, although Moscow said only several planes were struck.
Sarvarov’s death comes amid US-led peace talks as the Trump administration pushes for a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
On Monday, Zelensky said initial drafts of US proposals for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia meet many of Kyiv’s demands, though he suggested neither side was likely to get everything it wanted.
“Overall, it looks quite solid at this stage,” he said of recent talks with US officials who are trying to steer the neighbouring countries toward compromises. “There are some things we are probably not ready for, and I’m sure there are things the Russians are not ready for either.”
US President Donald Trump has for months been pushing for a peace agreement. However, the negotiations have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.
US envoy Steve Witkoff said on the weekend that had held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives.
Zelensky said that “nearly 90% per cent” of Ukraine’s demands have been incorporated into the draft agreements.
The backbone of the proposed deal is a 20-point plan, he said. There is also a framework document on security guarantees between Ukraine, European countries, and the US, as well as a separate document on bilateral security guarantees granted to Ukraine by the US.
Several provisions are being discussed, according to Zelensky. They include the Ukrainian army remaining at a peacetime level of 800,000; membership in the European Union; and European forces, under the leadership of France and the U.K. and with a “backstop” from Washington, ensuring “Ukraine’s security in the air, on land, and at sea”.
“Some key countries will provide presence in these domains; others will contribute to energy security, finance, bomb shelters, and so on,” the Ukrainian president said.
Ukraine is arguing that the bilateral document with US should be reviewed by the US Congress, with some details and annexes kept classified, Zelensky said.
The US team is now in talks with Russian envoys, and Washington has asked that no details be released, he added.
AP
