Pro-Russian paramilitary leader killed in Moscow bomb blast

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Pro-Russian paramilitary leader killed in Moscow bomb blast

A senior pro-Russian paramilitary leader from eastern Ukraine has been killed in a bomb blast in the lobby of a luxury apartment building in Moscow.

The attack targeted Armen Sarkisyan, who Ukraine has accused of aiding Russia’s war in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, Russian media reported.

He was critically injured in the blast and later died in hospital, according to the Kommersant newspaper.

Pro-Russian paramilitary leader killed in Moscow bomb blast

The bomb detonated as Mr Sarkisyan and his bodyguards entered the Scarlet Sails complex in the Russian capital.

One bodyguard was killed and three more injured, Kommersant reported.

Pro-Russian paramilitary leader killed in Moscow bomb blast

Footage released by Russia’s main investigative agency showed shattered glass doors and debris scattered around the building’s lobby.

State news agency TASS called the bombing a well-planned assassination.

Pro-Russian paramilitary leader killed in Moscow bomb blast

Attack ‘carefully planned’

The attack “was carefully planned and was ordered,” a police official said, according to the agency. “Investigators are currently identifying those who ordered the crime.”

Russian authorities said a criminal case had been launched into the blast.

Elite neighbourhood now on high alert

Pro-Russian paramilitary leader killed in Moscow bomb blast

Ivor Bennett

Moscow correspondent

@IvorBennett

There was a tense atmosphere outside the upmarket Scarlet Sails residential complex.

Flustered residents were ushered in and out by the on-site security team, who appeared nervous at the presence of so many cameras.

Like at other gated communities in the Russian capital, visitors are required to show ID to gain entry and must have a valid reason.

So how did someone smuggle in an explosive?

One suggestion here is that the perpetrator could have posed as a courier or contractor. We saw several delivery drivers come and go, even with the heightened security.

As well as the officials at the gate, there was a line of traffic police officers checking vehicles. And inside the compound, there were dozens of law enforcement officers on patrol – an elite neighbourhood now on high alert.

‘Crime boss’

Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service previously described Mr Sarkisyan, who was born in Armenia, as a “crime boss” in the Donetsk region, which Russia has largely controlled since 2014. It also said he was officially suspected of participating in and aiding “illegal armed groups”.

Pro-Russian paramilitary leader killed in Moscow bomb blast

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The SBU said Mr Sarkisyan had formed a pro-Russian military unit made up of local convict fighters and organised purchases of supplies for frontline units.

Founded a pro-Russian paramilitary unit in 2022

It said in 2022 he founded a pro-Russian paramilitary unit composed mostly of fellow ethnic Armenians to fight against Kyiv’s forces.

In December, Ukraine claimed a bomb blast outside a Moscow apartment building that killed the Russian General Igor Kirillov.

It has not yet commented on the latest blast in Moscow.

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