A pro-Russia paramilitary leader along with one of his bodyguards were killed in a bomb blast in a lobby of a luxury apartment block in Russian capital city, Moscow, on Monday morning.
Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency said the intended target of the bomb blast was Armen Sarkisyan, a Ukrainian person whom Kyiv accuses of helping Russian forces in their war efforts.
“The assassination attempt on Sarkisyan was carefully planned and was ordered. Investigators are currently identifying those who ordered the crime,” TASS quoted a law enforcement official as saying.
RIA, another state news agency, initially cited law enforcement as saying Sarkisyan was in a critical condition, and that part of his leg was being amputated.
The bomb detonated at the lobby just as Sarkisyan entered the lobby of the apartment block with his bodyguards, according to a report in Russia’s Kommersant newspaper.
What do we know about the attack?
The bomb detonated at the lobby of “Scarlet Sails” complex on the banks of the Moskva River just 12 kilometers (7 miles) from the Kremlin.
Media reports initially suggested that Sarkisyan had died in the attack, but later said he had been taken to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has seen a string of assassinations and explosions on its soil that are believed to have been carried out by Ukrainian forces.
In December, Russian General Igor Kirillov was killed in a blast outside a Moscow apartment complex in a bombing claimed by Ukraine.
In December, Ukraine’s SBU security service called Sarkisyan a “crime boss” in the Donetsk region, with authorities adding that Sarkisyan was officially suspected of helping “illegal armed groups.”
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar
