A car bomb attack in Moscow has wounded a former adviser to Ukrainian ex-prime minister Mykola Azarov, Russia’s Investigative Committee says.
Sergei Zavorotny, now a journalist and commentator, was behind the wheel of his black Toyota when the explosion happened and Azarov told Russian TV his condition in hospital was “rather critical”.
The car bomb went off a day after a Russian colonel was killed in another explosion in St Petersburg, and both blasts are seen as part of a series of attacks on military and prominent figures linked to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zavorotny, 72, worked as a press aide to Mykola Azarov in Kyiv until 2014.
But when pro-Kremlin Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was toppled from power, Azarov fled Kyiv for Russia and tried unsuccessfully to set up a government in exile.
In a 2020 US Senate report on interference in the 2016 American presidential election, Zavorotny is described at the time as an SVR [Russian foreign intelligence] officer involved in influence operations.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Telegram on Friday: “Serhiy Zavorotny, a former adviser to the former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, was injured while driving a car. He was taken to one of the city hospitals, where he is receiving medical care.”
It added: “A set of necessary investigative actions is being carried out. A number of examinations will be appointed, including medical and explosives.”
According to several unconfirmed reports, Zavorotny suffered a number of serious injuries after an explosive device was detonated remotely.
Russia said the car bombs are the latest in a series of attacks targeting pro-Kremlin figures.
On Thursday a car bomb in the Pushkinsky District of St Petersburg killed a member of the Russian military, again after it was attached to the base of the car and detonated remotely.
The man targeted in the attack is yet to be named officially, but reputable sources suggest he was a high-ranking figure in the 6th Guards Air and Air Defence Forces Army.
Overnight into Friday, Ukraine and Russia exchanged attacks on each other’s territories.
Ukrainian authorities said a hospital had been targeted by Russian bombardment.
They added that three people, including a 17-year-old boy, were also killed in attacks across southern Odesa and Zaporizhzhia.
Russia said a Ukrainian strike on an industrial facility in the central Samara region killed four people.
And in the southern Volgograd region another four died after an industrial zone was hit by drones. A further person died in the Bryansk border region, an area that is often fired upon.
Ukraine said these were retaliatory attacks in response to Russia’s persistent targeting of its cities.
