A Russian army colonel has been killed following the detonation of an explosive device planted under his car in St. Petersburg on the morning of the 12th of November, the Kyiv Post reports, citing Russian media.The explosive device was attached to the underside of the vehicle and detonated remotely as the officer was leaving the courtyard of his residence in the Slavyanka neighborhood of St. Petersburg. The blast reportedly occurred near a Lenta supermarket and a Tatneft gas station on the Kolpinskoye Highway. It is reported that the victim served in Russia’s 6th Air Force and Air Defense Army. Following the explosion, traffic on the highway was halted, and the Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation into the incident, treating it as a suspected murder.This marks the second car bombing targeting a Russian army officer in the Slavyanka neighborhood in less than three months. On the 27th of August, a vehicle carrying a Russian army officer and his wife was blown up in the same area; the man was killed, while his wife sustained serious injuries. The deceased is believed to be 43-year-old Major Sergey Sechkov, who served in Russia’s 332nd Separate Guards Helicopter Regiment. In May 2022, Ukrainian military intelligence accused the regiment of carrying out attacks against civilians in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Sechkov had reportedly informed his superiors that he was on a “target list” and would regularly check his car before setting off.Following the explosion in August, a Russian media outlet reported that the explosive device had been planted by a 24-year-old woman, who subsequently traveled to Moldova via Turkey.Slavyanka was originally developed, in part, as a residential area for Russian military personnel. As of 2012, the Russian Ministry of Defense owned nearly a third of the properties in the neighborhood that were then under construction.The car bombings are part of a broader series of attacks targeting members of the Russian military, including high-ranking officers. On the 13th of August, Captain 1st Rank Robert Shageyev of the Russian Navy was killed in an explosion in Sevastopol. Prior to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, Shageyev had served in the Ukrainian Navy, where he commanded the country’s only submarine. He later joined the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Similar attacks have taken place in the Moscow region. In April 2025, Russian General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car explosion; Ukrainian officials later implied that the operation had been carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services. In another explosion in April 2025, engineer Yevgeny Ritikov—who had been involved in the development of the Russian “Krasukha” electronic warfare systems—was killed. Ukrainian intelligence services neither denied nor confirmed their involvement in the incident.The campaign has also extended to Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, where Ukrainian partisans and operations linked to intelligence services are targeting occupation officials and military personnel.
Attacks on military personnel intensify in Russia; colonel killed in car bombing
