Car bomb kills Russian serviceman near St. Petersburg; local media report victim was a colonel

A car explosion on the southern outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, killed a Russian serviceman early on Thursday (November 12). Russia's Investigative Committee confirmed the incident and has opened a murder investigation, but did not identify the victim; local media reported he was a colonel, a rank Reuters said it could not independently verify.

Device apparently planted under the car and detonated remotely

The blast happened at about 7 a.m. local time in Shushary, on the Kolpinskoye Highway in the Pushkinsky District. According to the local outlet Fontanka, an explosive device was apparently fixed under the vehicle and set off remotely as the officer, who was alone in the car, pulled out of a courtyard; the moment of the blast was captured on camera. The 78 television channel said he was chief navigator of the 6th Air Force and Air Defence Army, a formation a Russian television channel said has carried out several attacks in the Kharkiv region; officials have not confirmed that.

No claim of responsibility; another serviceman killed in the same district in August

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion, and investigators are still working to establish the exact cause and who was behind it. Russia has blamed Ukraine for previous assassinations of senior military officials and people linked to Moscow's war effort. Notably, another serviceman was killed in a car explosion in the same district of the city on August 27. The war in Ukraine has lasted nearly five years. (Sources: Reuters, Fontanka, Russian Investigative Committee)