A lieutenant colonel in Russia's air defense forces was killed Thursday when his car exploded in the Pushkinsky district on the southern outskirts of St. Petersburg, authorities said.
The blast occurred when the driver turned on the ignition, according to local media reports. The officer's wife was in the vehicle at the time and was rushed to a hospital with injuries.
Russia's Investigative Committee opened a criminal case in connection with the explosion, which left two victims—one fatality and one hospitalized. The committee did not immediately name a suspect, and no group has claimed responsibility for the blast.
Images released by local news outlet Fontanka showed a destroyed vehicle near what appeared to be a store, with ambulances and emergency crews at the scene. The explosion occurred in a neighborhood known to house Russian military personnel. Police and bomb disposal experts inspected the area and nearby parked vehicles to rule out the presence of a second explosive device.
The incident is part of a series of attacks targeting senior Russian military officials and others linked to the war effort. On August 5, the director of a drone factory was severely wounded and his driver was killed when their car exploded outside Yekaterinburg. Days earlier, on August 1, a bomb at an upscale Italian restaurant in Moscow killed five people, including attendees at a birthday celebration for Alexander Chaiko, commander of Russia's Aerospace Forces.
Russia has experienced multiple assassinations of high-ranking military personnel since the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Ukrainian officials have previously acknowledged responsibility for some operations targeting Russian military figures, though authorities have not yet attributed Thursday's explosion to any specific actor.
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