By Serge Dubina
Published on •Updated
A Russian serviceman was killed in a car explosion in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday. The local office of the Investigative Committee said the cause had not yet been established and announced it had opened a murder investigation.
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The outburst comes as Moscow accuses kyiv of committing a series of killings of Russian soldiers since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.
The Ukrainian armed forces have claimed responsibility for some killings, while remaining silent on others.
The attacks have involved car bombs, explosives hidden in scooters and shootings.
The soldier, whose rank was not officially disclosed, died as a result of “a car explosion in the Pushkin district” of St. Petersburg, the Investigative Committee said in a press release.
“A murder investigation into the death of the soldier has been opened,” added the commission.
“Currently, investigators and forensic experts, as well as operational officers, are examining the scene and a number of necessary forensic examinations are being ordered. All the circumstances of what happened are being clarified,” he said on Telegram.
Russian media reported that the explosion took place in the village of Shushary, on the Kolpinskoye highway. According to them, the killed man was a colonel of the Russian armed forces and chief navigator of the 6th Air and Air Defense Force.
According to Russian media, the soldier was alone at the wheel of the car when it exploded. The explosive device had been attached to the underside of the car and was detonated remotely as it left a yard. He died on the spot. The moment of the explosion was captured by an intercom camera.
On August 27, 2026, in the Slavyanka district of the same locality, a lieutenant colonel, also a member of the air and air defense forces, was blown up with his wife. Both lost their legs. The lieutenant colonel died instantly, while his wife was saved by doctors.
At the time, a 24-year-old Russian woman who left for Türkiye after the explosion was suspected of having planted the bomb. Law enforcement has not officially commented on the progress of the investigation and has not released the victim’s name or other details.
The man killed in August is believed to be (source in Russian) Sergei Sechkov, 43, who served in the 332nd Separate Guards Helicopter Regiment. His father confirmed to independent Russian media outlet Agentstvo that his son died in the explosion.
In May 2022, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry accused (source in Russian) servicemen of the regiment of carrying out missile and bomb strikes against Ukrainian civilians on the Slobozhansky axis.
Series of targeted attacks against Russian soldiers
The highest-ranking Russian officer targeted since the start of the full-scale war was Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, killed near his apartment in Moscow in December 2024.
On this occasion, Ukraine explicitly claimed responsibility for the assassination of Kirillov, whom kyiv accused of having ordered the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the incident a “serious failure” on the part of Russia’s security services.
In April 2025, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalyk was killed in the explosion of his car in Balashikha, near Moscow.
In December of the same year, Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov was blown up in front of his home, just 16 km from the Kremlin.
In February 2026, Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, first deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Russian General Staff, was shot dead in the lobby of a Moscow building as he left his apartment.
In April, a battalion commander of a communications training unit was killed when a device placed in a mailbox exploded on the grounds of a military garrison in Russia’s Khabarovsk region.
On August 1, 2026, Alexander Chaiko, appointed head of the Russian Aerospace Forces in May, was named as the target of a high-profile assassination attempt. The explosion took place at the Balzi Rossi restaurant, in one of Stalin’s “Seven Sisters” skyscrapers on Barrikadnaya Street.
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