Targeting a pro-Russian paramilitary leader from eastern Ukraine, a bomb exploded in the lobby of a posh apartment building in Moscow on Monday, killing at least one person and wounding four others, according to the state TASS news agency.
According to Russia’s Kommersant daily, Armen Sarkisyan, a prominent pro-Russian paramilitary figure from eastern Ukraine, passed away in a hospital on Monday following serious injuries sustained in the bombing.
According to Russian media, the explosive went off when a guy accompanied by bodyguards entered the Scarlet Sails complex lobby on the banks of the Moskva River, which is only 12 kilometers (7 miles) from the Kremlin.
Citing law enforcement sources, TASS described the explosion as an assassination attempt and named Armen Sarkisyan as the probable target. Ukraine accuses Sarkisyan of supporting Russia’s war operation in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Law enforcement reported that Sarkisyan was in severe condition and that a portion of his leg was being amputated, according to RIA, another state news agency.
Sarkisyan’s assassination attempt was authorized and well prepared. According to a law enforcement official cited by TASS, investigators are presently identifying the individuals who ordered the crime.
Video from Baza, a Telegram group with connections to Russia’s security services, revealed significant damage to the building’s foyer. According to the report, Sarkisyan suffered severe injuries in the explosion. Reuters was unable to verify the report right away.
As a criminal boss in the Donetsk area, which has been mostly under Moscow’s control since 2014, Sarkisyan was formally suspected of aiding and abetting illegal armed organizations, according to Ukraine’s SBU security service in December.
According to the report, he organized the procurement of supplies for frontline units and established a pro-Russian military group composed of local inmate fighters.
Ukraine claimed responsibility for the December bombing outside a Moscow apartment complex that killed Russian General Igor Kirillov. Ukraine did not immediately react on Monday’s explosion.