Moscow car bomb severely injures former aide to Ukraine's ex-PM Azarov

A car bomb exploded in southern Moscow on Friday morning, severely injuring Sergei Zavorotniy, 72, a former spokesman and adviser to Mykola Azarov, Ukraine's ex-prime minister, who fled to Russia after the 2014 Maidan revolution. It is the second such attack in Russia within two days, and is seen as part of a series of assassination attempts believed to have been orchestrated by Kyiv.

Injuries and investigation

Russian media report that Zavorotniy is in an induced coma after losing his left arm in the blast. He also suffered concussion, fractured ribs and other injuries. Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation.

Zavorotniy served as Azarov's spokesman and adviser. Azarov fled to Russia after the Maidan revolution toppled the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. A 2020 report by the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which examined Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, identified Zavorotniy as an officer of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) involved in influence operations.

St Petersburg blast

A day earlier, on Thursday morning, a car bomb in St Petersburg's Pushkinsky district, home to many military personnel, killed a colonel in the Russian air force. His name has not been made public; the local broadcaster 78.ru reported his rank, citing sources. According to the St Petersburg outlet Fontanka, a 31-year-old suspect detonated the bomb remotely after tracking the colonel for months while working at a nearby shop. He reportedly left Russia for Moldova via Turkey on Thursday morning.

Context

Ukraine has not commented on either attack. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian intelligence agencies have targeted dozens of senior Russian officers and Russia-installed officials whom Kyiv accuses of war crimes. In late August, a lieutenant colonel in a Russian air force and air defence unit was killed in a car bombing in the same St Petersburg neighbourhood. Vladimir Putin has previously reprimanded his top security officials over the wave of assassinations, which led to tighter security measures.