A car bomb killed a lieutenant colonel of Russia's Aerospace Forces in St. Petersburg on the morning of 27 August, the local outlet Fontanka reported. His wife survived and reached hospital in serious condition. Russia's Investigative Committee opened a criminal case, and nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.
A bomb inside the car
Witnesses said the officer and his wife were pulling away from their house in a southern suburb of the city at around 10 a.m. when an improvised explosive device went off inside the car, Militarnyi reported. The officer died on the spot, and the blast tore off the legs of both spouses. Fontanka placed the dead officer in Russia's Air Force and Air Defense branches, which sit within the Aerospace Forces.
Russian channel Ren TV published a video of the wreckage and said the explosion followed the driver starting the engine. The Geely lost its rear window, hood, and rear bumper, and its body was badly deformed, and parts landed dozens of meters away, according to the channel. Footage from the site shows debris across the roadway and emergency crews arriving.
Witnesses told the Russian news Telegram channel Ostorozhno Novosti that the blast wave badly deformed the driver's door and damaged cars parked alongside. Ukrainian monitoring Telegram channel Exilenova+ posted several clips from the site and described the dead man as a military pilot.
The Investigative Committee's St. Petersburg directorate said it had opened a criminal case over the burning of a car in which two people were hurt. It confirmed that one of them died and one was hospitalized, and it did not name the article of the criminal code.
Russia's Defense Ministry bought a significant share of the housing in that part of the city for servicemen and their families, according to available information.
Bombings in Russia's rear
The killing follows a run of blasts against people tied to Russia's war. Earlier this month, a bomb under the car of Vladimir Tkachuk, who heads the plant making Upyr first-person-view drones, killed his bodyguard and put Tkachuk in intensive care. Major General Valery Plokhotnyuk reportedly died on 1 August in a blast at an Italian restaurant in Moscow.
Car bomb kills Russian general who armed Russia’s war on Ukraine—fourth top officer assassinated near Moscow since late 2024
At least four senior officers have died in bombings in and around the capital since late 2024, including chemical defense chief Igor Kirillov, General Staff officer Yaroslav Moskalik, military planner Fanil Sarvarov, and Damir Davydov, who ran missile and shell deliveries for the Defense Ministry. Ukraine's security service claimed the Kirillov operation openly and, through a source, a 2024 Sevastopol car bombing that killed a Black Sea Fleet brigade commander. Kyiv has stayed silent on most of the rest.
