The news did not appear in the Russian Ministry of Defense’s official Monday, December 22, daily briefing. On social media platforms, however, Russian military channels were, from the early morning, among the first to report the latest blow to the Russian military and to the Kremlin: Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, a member of the general staff in charge of the operational training department, was killed when his car exploded, in one of Moscow’s southern districts. “He succumbed to his injuries,” the investigative committee simply announced, before swiftly adding that it was investigating the possibility that the incident had been a terrorist attack by “Ukrainian special services.”

On Monday morning, Sarvarov, 56, was driving his Kia Sorento. The car exploded as he started the engine. The lieutenant general, seriously wounded, died at the hospital shortly thereafter. According to preliminary findings from the investigation, an improvised explosive device had been placed under the vehicle, near the driver’s seat.

The attack took place at a time when the war in Ukraine is grinding on despite Washington-led diplomatic efforts. On the front lines, Russian troops have made very slow progress into Ukrainian territory, far from the advances touted by the Kremlin’s statements. The attack on Sarvarov demonstrated that the battlefield also extended to Russian soil. Since the invasion of Ukraine begun on February 24, 2022, Moscow has regularly accused Kyiv of carrying out targeted attacks on prominent individuals and military officials, both in Russia and in areas of Ukraine occupied by Moscow.

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