Russian paramilitary leader killed in Moscow’s explosion

The leader of a pro -Russian paramilitary group in eastern Ukraine died in hospital after being wounded in an explosion in Moscow on Monday morning, Russian media reported.

Armen Sargsian, the driver of the Arbat battalion, was severely wounded after an explosion in the entrance hall of an apartment building in the northwestern Moscow, 12 km (7 miles) from the Kremlin.

He was evacuated to a hospital with a helicopter and was placed in intensive treatment after the explosion, but eventually succumbed to his injuries, according to usually reliable sources of telegram.

Others – including one of Armen Sargsian’s bodyguards – were also seriously injured, with some sources saying another person was killed.

In December, The Ukrainian Security Service SBU SAID “CRIME BOSS” MR SARGSYAN WAS A SUSPECT IN “RECRUITING PRISONERS TO FIGHEE” AND ADDED THE HE HAD ers carred out in the Kiev center.

SBU added that Sargsian is part of the inner circle of fugitive former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

“The attempt to kill Sarkisyan was carefully planned and ordered. At the moment, investigators identify those who have ordered the crime,” says Tas, citing a law enforcement officer.

The images shared on social media show ruins and plaster, strewn through a severely damaged entrance hall with blown windows and doors.

Olga Voronova, a 36-year-old mother of three who lived in the neighborhood building with the explosion, told the AFP news agency that she was “very scared” and does not understand how the blast can happen.

“We have a lot of serious security guards. They ask every car at the checkpoints, we order guest gaps, even for family members,” she said.

G -n Sargsian was born in Gorlovka, a city in the area of ​​Ukraine Donetsk, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014.

In a post of the telegram confirming his death, the mayor of the city Ivan Pridko said that “the most significant achievement of G -n Sargsian is the creation and management of a separate special forces battalion.”

Mr Prikhodko stated that Mr Sargsyan was also the head of the Boxing Federation of the Self-Prominent People’s Republic of Donetsk.

The Arbat battalion is known to operate in the Russian Kursk region, where the Ukrainian troops are still present after a surprising offensive began in August.

There are a number of attacks on supporters of the high profiles for the invasion of Russia in Ukraine, in Moscow and in occupied areas.

The senior Russian naval officer Valeri Trakovski and the head of the Russian prison Sergei Yuvsiukov died after car bombs erupted in occupied Russia in the end of 2024.

And in December a high -ranking general in the Russian armed forces and his assistant were killed in Moscow by Ukraine for securityA Ukrainian source told the BBC.