The head of an anti-Russian military group based in eastern Ukraine was killed by an explosion in a Moscow apartment block, according to Russian state media.
The blast was caused by a bomb planted at the Alye Parusa residential complex, about 12km (7 miles) from the Kremlin, on Monday morning, Russia’s Tass news agency reported. Following Moscow’s invasion, the latest attack is one that targets Russian or pro-Russian figures.
Tass cited law enforcement sources as saying Armen Sarkisyan had died after being taken into critical condition after calling the explosion an “assassination attempt.” The former boxer is accused of supporting Russia’s offensive in Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine.
“The Sarkisyan assassination attempt was carefully planned and carried out.” According to Tass, investigators are currently identifying those responsible for the crime, according to a law enforcement official.
One of Sarkisyan’s bodyguards was also killed.
‘ Crime boss ‘
In December, Ukraine’s SBU security service described Sarkisyan as a “crime boss” in the Donetsk region, much of which has been controlled by Moscow since 2014.
He was formally suspected of supporting “illegal armed groups” and participating in them. The SBU said he had founded a pro-Russian military formation, made up of local convicts, and organised purchases of supplies for frontline units.
The security service noted that Sarkisian was “close” to Ukraine’s removed ex-president Viktor Yanukovych and had been on a wanted list since 2014, accused of “organising murders” during the “Maidan” revolution that unseated him.
“Shameful attacks”
No immediate comment was made on the blast, which Ukraine claimed responsibility for a similar explosion that occurred in December near a Moscow apartment and killed a Russian general.
However, Ukraine has launched an investigation into unfounded attacks on its own military forces.
Commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky demanded on Monday that an investigation into what he termed “shameful” weekend attacks on military officials and recruitment centers be launched.
In a blast in Rivne’s western city, one soldier was killed, and another seven were injured or killed in the eastern Poltava region.
“Violence against servicemen is unacceptable. We anticipate a thorough and thorough investigation into these crimes, he said.
Struggling for soldiers and resources on the frontline, Kyiv has been pushing to boost recruitment, which has provoked anger and some violence.
Continued drone assaults
Following a deadly airstrike on a school in the Kursk region of Russia on Saturday, the Moscow attack occurred. Moscow and Kyiv have been busy blaming the attack because the town has been taken over by Ukrainian forces.
However, neither has stopped their daily barrages of rage against one another. Overnight on Monday, they both fired dozens of drones.
According to a statement from the Ukrainian General Staff, Kyiv’s attacks had targeted a nearby Astrakhan processing plant and an oil refinery in the Volgograd region.
In recent months, Ukraine has increased its air raids in an effort to disrupt Russian military supplies or stifle oil revenues that Moscow uses to finance its war effort. The front-line conflict is getting more difficult.
But that has not reversed Ukraine’s mounting battlefield losses in the southeast, where Russia is increasing control.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, is now facing growing pressure to start negotiations with Russia as US President Donald Trump objectes to US military aid to Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin and Trump both declared readiness for talks to end the conflict, but neither has indicated when or how.
Source: Aljazeera
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