Moscow Police Targeted In Deadly Car Bombing On 4th Anniversary Of Russian Invasion
There's been another killing by explosive device in the heart of Moscow - this time coming on the fourth anniversary of the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Russian Interior Ministry has confirmed that a culprit detonated powerful bomb beside a police patrol car in central Moscow early Tuesday, near a public transport hub, which killed one officer and wounded two more.
Based on the details, the attack was clearly targeting the police officers, as the attacker approached their car before quickly setting off the bomb.
The patrol car was badly damaged, with windows shattered, littering the scene with debris at Savyolovsky railway station square - which is one of the capital’s main railway hubs.
Subsequently, there was this bit of strange and contradictory reporting:
The ministry initially said the perpetrator had fled. Minutes later, it said the man was found dead at the site after inspecting the scene and reviewing surveillance footage.
Authorities gave no immediate details about the explosive or the attacker’s motive.
This particular incident comes after a string of assassinations of high profile generals and Russian figures, but also mimics similar prior seemingly 'random' attack on Moscow police.
For example in December 2025 two police officers were killed in an explosion in southern Moscow while attempting to detain a suspicious individual near their vehicle, which occurred just days after a Russian general was assassinated in the same area.
The blast underscored a troubling reality for the Kremlin - that the war's shadow has been creeping deeper into the capital through an apparently intelligence-orchestrated dirty war.
Some local reports are saying this fresh Tuesday attack was the result of a suicide bombing. Russian security services are investigating the scene:
IED detonates by a traffic-police patrol car at Savyolovsky station square in Moscow after midnight — Ministry of the Interior
— RT (@RT_com) February 23, 2026
One officer has been killed, another hospitalized with serious injuries
Suspected bomber may have died at the scene, too
Investigation ongoing pic.twitter.com/DquHUAeifh
Earlier this month, a senior Russian military intelligence officer was shot multiple times and seriously wounded in an attack authorities squarely blamed on Ukrainian intelligence.
The victim was a high level Russian intelligence official, Vladimir Alekseyev - the deputy head of Moscow's GRU military intelligence. He had long been sanctioned in the West for his alleged role in cyberattacks and allegations that he was behind the alleged 2018 Novichok nerve agent attack in Britain.