Car explosion in Moscow wounds ex-Azarov aide, second blast in Russia in two days

The blast in Chertanovo

A car exploded on Friday, 13 November, in the Chertanovo district of southern Moscow, and one person was taken to hospital. The Russian news agency TASS, citing a law enforcement source, reported the blast. Several Telegram channels identified the injured man as Serhii Zavorotnyj, whose role in Mykola Azarov's circle is described differently across reports. According to Il Fatto Quotidiano, the Toyota SUV was driving along Kirovohradska Street, about 200 metres from the exit of a courtyard, when it went off. The shockwave threw the driver out of the vehicle. ANSA described his condition as serious.

Injuries and the suspected device

Accounts of the injuries and the device do not match. Il Fatto Quotidiano reported splinter wounds to his chest and back, serious leg injuries, and a homemade explosive device placed under the driver's seat according to the first information available. Stirile ProTV, citing the outlet 112, listed a brain contusion, rib fractures and an open leg fracture, and said he had lost his left arm. The same outlet, citing Kommersant, said the blast may have been caused by a magnetic mine with a charge equivalent to about 300 grams of TNT. In a phone conversation with a Russian journalist, Azarov said he knew little beyond what the journalist knew, that Zavorotnyj was alive and probably in hospital, and that he himself was safe.

Who Zavorotnyj is

Il Fatto Quotidiano describes him as a 72-year-old Russian publicist and doctor of historical sciences who once worked for the State Duma of the Russian Federation. ANSA and Il Fatto Quotidiano call him an adviser to Azarov during his premiership, while Polsat News, NewsIT and Stirile ProTV call him a former spokesman. After Azarov fled to Moscow, Zavorotnyj followed the creation of the so-called Committee for the Salvation of Ukraine in July 2015, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. The same outlet cites volume five of a report by the US Senate intelligence committee on Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, which describes him as an officer of Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR, involved in influence operations. Il Fatto Quotidiano also lists his public stances: calling the Revolution of Dignity a coup, directing the Antifašist portal and co-writing a book about the 2014 events.

Investigation

Russia's Investigative Committee opened a criminal case, and a team from the Main Investigative Directorate for Moscow was sent to the scene, according to Polsat News. The street was completely blocked afterwards. Citing Kommersant, Stirile ProTV reports that investigators are treating the case as an attempted murder committed by a method dangerous to public safety, under articles 30 and 105 of the Criminal Code, and that the charge could be reclassified as an act of terrorism under article 205. NewsIT notes that Russian authorities had not yet announced the cause of the explosion or confirmed that it was a bombing. The ownership of the car and his health status come from Russian media reports rather than official statements.

A second blast in two days

On Thursday, 12 November, a car explosion in the Pushkinsky district of southern St Petersburg killed a Russian military officer. Local media gave his rank as colonel, and the Investigative Committee said the death occurred in a car explosion in that district. The committee opened a murder inquiry into that incident. In late August, a vehicle explosion in the same district killed another Russian serviceman and injured his wife, and Fontanka identified the dead man as a lieutenant colonel in air defence. No official link between the incidents has been announced. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many Russian military personnel have been killed on Russian soil, and Ukrainian intelligence services have either claimed or been accused of responsibility for many of those killings.