Car bomb kills Russian colonel in St. Petersburg, local media report

A car bomb killed a Russian colonel in St. Petersburg on Thursday morning, the local news outlet Fontanka reported, citing an informed source.

A relative who was with him was wounded and survived, according to the outlet.

The Russian Investigative Committee later confirmed the death of a military serviceman and said it had opened a murder case. The victim’s identity has not been disclosed.

The explosion occurred around 7am on Kolpino Highway in the city’s Shushary district, near a Lenta supermarket and a gas station. Fontanka reported that the device went off as the officer was driving out of a courtyard.

Multiple Russian military officers have been killed by car bombs or similar devices during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In December 2024, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s radiological, chemical and biological defence forces, died in Moscow from a remotely controlled bomb hidden inside a scooter. In April 2025, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car bombing in the Moscow region. And in December 2025, a car bomb killed Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov in Moscow.