High-Profile Assassination: Russian General Fanil Sarvarov Killed in Moscow Car Bomb Attack

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A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow on Monday morning as officials reported “slow progress” in talks with the United States on how to end the war in Ukraine.

Top negotiators from both Russia and Ukraine were in Miami over the weekend for separate meetings with US officials seeking to break the deadlock on a deal to end almost four years of fighting, triggered by Moscow’s all-out offensive on its neighbour in 2022.

Kyiv has not commented on the blast, the latest in a string of similar incidents, but Russian investigators said they suspected it was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces”.

Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, aged 56 and head of the Russian General Staff’s training division, tragically lost his life when an explosive device, planted beneath his parked vehicle, went off in a residential area in southern Moscow.

Agence France-Presse reporters at the scene saw a mangled white Kia SUV, its doors and back window blown out. The frame was twisted and charred from the blast.

The scene had been cordoned off by security forces, and investigators were sifting through the debris. Eyewitnesses reported a loud bang.

“We absolutely didn’t expect it. We thought we were safe, and then this happens right next to us,” local resident, Tatiana, 74, told AFP.

“The windows rattled, you could tell it was an explosion,” said Grigory, 70, who also declined to give his surname.

“We should approach this with a sense of calm. It’s simply the harsh reality of war,” a source commented.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it was “working through various lines of enquiry into the murder. One of them involves the possible organisation of the crime by Ukrainian special services.”

Sarvarov’s military career included significant engagements in the Russian army’s operations across the North Caucasus, notably in Chechnya during the 1990s, as detailed in his official biography on the defense ministry’s website.

Meanwhile, discussions described by Witkoff as “productive and constructive” took place, indicating a positive trajectory in negotiations.

He had also been one of the figures overseeing Russian forces in Syria in 2015-16.

The Kremlin said Putin had been informed about Monday’s killing, which came after three days of talks in Miami as the United States intensifies its efforts to broker an end to the nearly four-year war.

Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and US special envoy Steve Witkoff hailed “progress” in the negotiations on Sunday.

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev also met with the US team, which included Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

Moscow has shown irritation over Europe’s involvement, as it seeks to secure an agreement exclusively with the Trump administration.

But Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said only “slow progress is being observed” in the talks, state media reported Monday.

An initial 28-point plan to end the war put forward by US President Donald Trump adhered to Moscow’s core demands, triggering panic in Kyiv and European capitals.

Ukraine and its allies have since been working to refine the plan, though Kyiv says it is still being asked to make massive concessions, such as giving up the entire eastern Donbas region to Russia.

Moscow has bristled at Europe’s involvement, as it tries to broker a deal exclusively with Trump.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed scepticism over whether Russia really wants to end the war, which has killed tens of thousands and decimated eastern and southern Ukraine.

Since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv has been blamed for several attacks targeting Russian military officials and pro-Kremlin figures in Russia and in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.