Car bomb kills Russian military officer in St. Petersburg (VIDEO)

The explosion occurred at around 7 AM on Thursday in a residential area on the outskirts of the city, killing the officer as he drove out of a courtyard. An explosive device was reportedly attached to the underside of his car and detonated remotely. The blast also shattered windows on a passing city bus, but no other injuries were reported. Local media identified the victim as a colonel. Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a murder investigation.

The victim’s identity has not been disclosed, nor have any or suspects been announced.

The latest killing follows a series of bombings and assassination attempts targeting senior Russian military personnel, some of which have been claimed by Ukrainian intelligence.

In December 2024, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces, was killed by a bomb hidden in an electric scooter outside his Moscow apartment building. Ukraine’s SBU security service claimed responsibility for the assassination.

Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of stepping up terrorist attacks, sabotage operations and targeted assassinations inside Russia. President Vladimir Putin said earlier this year that the number of terrorist incidents had risen sharply in 2025, blaming Ukrainian intelligence services and their foreign backers.