Three people - including two police officers - have been killed in an explosion in Moscow, Russian authorities have said.
Two traffic police officers saw a suspicious individual near a police car on the city's Yeletskaya Street, and when they approached the suspect to detain him, an explosive device was detonated, Russia's Investigative Committee has announced.
Reports in Russia indicate that the third victim was the suspect, although this has not been officially confirmed.
The blast occurred not far from the site of a recent car bombing that resulted in the death of Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov, a high-ranking Russian general. While details about the blast and its possible connections to the ongoing conflict remain murky, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee stated via Telegram that a criminal case is active regarding an attempt on police officers' lives.
The victims, identified by Russian media as Ilya Klimanov (24) and Maxim Gorbunov (25), were reportedly involved in operations against Ukrainian forces, prompting sources from Ukraine's military intelligence agency to suggest the explosion may have been a retaliatory act.
Additionally, two more individuals were reported to be hospitalized with serious injuries from the blast. Local residents described the explosion as a loud bang similar to an earlier bombing that killed a high-ranking military official.
The Russian government has expressed suspicions about Ukrainian involvement in the attack but has not substantiated these claims with evidence. The exact nature of the relationship between the two explosions is still unclear, as both incidents highlight the heightened tension in the region amid the ongoing conflict.
