Two police officers and a civilian are killed in the second bomb attack in Moscow in three days.
An explosive device detonated while two officers were arresting a suspect.
BarcelonaTwo police officers and a civilian were killed early this morning in a bomb attack on a traffic patrol vehicle in Moscow. This is the second such attack in the Russian capital in the last three days, followinga Russian general staffer dies due to an explosion in their car.
The detonation occurred while the two officers were detaining a suspect on Yeletskaya Street, in the south of the Russian capital. The suspect also died, according to the press service of the Russian Investigative Committee (RIC). "Two traffic police officers spotted a suspicious person with a police car. When they approached to stop him, an explosive device was detonated. As a result of the injuries sustained, the two police officers, as well as the person present, died," the statement read.
According to the TASS news agency, the victims are Lieutenant Ilia Klimanov, 24, who joined the Moscow police force in October 2023, and Lieutenant Maksim Gorbunov, 25, who had been with the force since February 2020. They had fought in Ukraine and were responsible for torturing Ukrainian prisoners of war. Sources from Kyiv's military intelligence agency, the GUR, told several Ukrainian media outlets, such as the Interfax news agency and the online Kyiv Post, that the attack was carried out by a Moscow resident opposed to the Kremlin. Russian authorities have opened a criminal case on two charges: attempted murder of law enforcement officers and illegal trafficking of explosive devices. Furthermore, investigators and forensic experts from the CIR traveled to the scene to examine the crime scene and try to determine the mechanism that detonated the explosive device. The incident occurred just two days after the assassination of Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Directorate of Military Operations of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. In that case, which is under investigation, Russian authorities are working on the hypothesis that Ukrainian intelligence services were involved. "The CIR's main investigations directorate has opened a criminal case for murder and illegal trafficking of explosives," the agency's spokesperson stated. However, for the time being, Wednesday's incident has not been attributed to Kiiv.