A colonel in Russia’s Aerospace Forces was killed in a car blast in St. Petersburg’s Shushary neighborhood Thursday; The Moscow Times reported another Russian military official died in a vehicle explosion there in August.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s top investigative body, opened a criminal case into the death of an unidentified serviceman. In its statement, the committee said, “All the circumstances of the incident are being established.”
Sources cited by local broadcaster 78.ru identified the victim as a colonel serving in the 6th Guards Air and Air Defense Forces Army. The committee’s announcement did not identify him by name.
The Moscow Times said the blast took place at around 4 a.m. UTC Thursday in the Pushkinsky district, citing law-enforcement and media accounts. 78.ru and Fontanka said the explosion came roughly 300 meters into the officer’s drive from his apartment building.
The Moscow Times identified Shushary as a southern suburb of St. Petersburg.
