Two Russian Officers Killed In Overnight Explosion

Two Russian police officers were killed in an overnight explosion in the capital, Moscow, after approaching a suspicious individual near their patrol vehicle, Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Wednesday.

According to the committee, the incident which occurred close to the site of a recent assassination of a senior military officer saw an explosive device detonate while the officers moved toward the suspect.

Investigators said the blast happened at about 1:30 a.m. local time, prompting an immediate security lockdown of the area.

In a statement, the committee said forensic teams were examining the scene and conducting medical and explosive analyses to determine the type of device used and the circumstances surrounding the attack.

Footage aired on Russian television showed a heavy police presence and cordoned-off streets, with witnesses reporting a loud explosion that shattered the quiet of the night.

The incident occurred near the location where Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian General Staff’s training department, was killed earlier this week.

Sarvarov died when an explosive device planted beneath his parked car detonated, marking one of the highest-profile attacks on a senior Russian military official in recent months.

Since Russian forces entered Ukraine in February 2022, several attacks have targeted Russian military personnel and pro-Kremlin figures inside Russia and in occupied Ukrainian territories.

Ukraine has been accused of involvement in some of these operations and has claimed responsibility for a number of past attacks, though it has not commented on either Sarvarov’s killing or the latest explosion.

The deadly blast comes as diplomatic efforts to end the nearly four-year conflict continue. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that negotiators from Ukraine and the United States had agreed on a revised draft peace plan, which is now under review by Russia.

Zelenskyy said the proposal would freeze the current front line and open discussions on troop redeployments and the creation of demilitarised zones, while avoiding immediate Ukrainian withdrawals from contested regions or formal recognition of Russian-held territory.

He acknowledged, however, that the plan contains elements Ukraine is unhappy with and warned that any agreement involving territorial concessions would require approval through a national referendum.

Russia has yet to publicly respond to the latest version of the proposal, but officials have previously insisted on territorial and political concessions as conditions for ending the war.

Ukraine and its allies have consistently rejected it.