Moscow. A car bomb killed a Russian general on Monday, the third such killing of a senior military officer in the past year. Investigators said Ukraine may be behind the attack.

Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, died from his injuries, said Svetlana Petrenko, a spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s top criminal investigation agency.

“Investigators are pursuing several lines of inquiry regarding the killing. One of them is that the crime was orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence services,” Petrenko said.

Since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine nearly four years ago, Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for a number of assassinations of military officers and public figures inside Russia. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of those attacks. It has not yet commented on Monday’s killing.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin was immediately informed of Sarvarov’s death. Sarvarov had fought in Chechnya and taken part in Russia’s military campaign in Syria.

The killing follows a series of similar attacks. Just over a year ago, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, chief of Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building. His assistant was also killed. Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for that attack, and an Uzbek man was later arrested and charged with carrying it out on Kyiv’s behalf.

Putin at the time described Kirillov’s killing as a “major blunder” by Russia’s security agencies, saying they needed to improve their effectiveness.

In April, another senior officer, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the General Staff’s main operational department, was killed by an explosive device planted in his car outside Moscow. A suspect was quickly arrested.

Days after Moskalik’s killing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had received a report from Ukraine’s foreign intelligence chief on the “liquidation” of senior Russian military figures, adding that “justice inevitably comes,” without naming Moskalik.

Outnumbered and facing Russia’s larger, better-equipped military, Ukraine has sought to shift the course of the war through unexpected attacks. In August last year, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, diverting Russian resources despite Kyiv’s struggles along the front lines.

Ukraine has also targeted Russia’s Black Sea fleet with sea drones and missiles, forcing Moscow to relocate warships and scale back operations. In June, swarms of drones launched from trucks struck bomber bases deep inside Russia. Ukraine said more than 40 long-range bombers were damaged or destroyed, while Russia said only several aircraft were hit.

Western officials, meanwhile, have accused Russia of conducting sabotage and disruption campaigns across Europe to undermine support for Ukraine. Moscow has denied those allegations.

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