Car with Russian Colonel Blown Up Near St. Petersburg: Officer Killed, Family Member Injured

In the settlement of Shushary, located in a suburb of St. Petersburg, a Russian military serviceman—reportedly holding the rank of colonel—was killed in a car explosion. The incident was reported by the Ukrainian outlet RBC-Ukraine, citing the Russian publication Fontanka. According to available information, a family member who was near the car survived the blast, but sustained injuries and was hospitalized. The scene of the incident is located in the area of Kolpinskoye Highway, as confirmed by CCTV footage that captured the scene in the early morning hours.

Circumstances of the Explosion and Nature of Damage

According to Fontanka, the explosive device in both cases under review—in Shushary and in a previous incident—was detonated remotely. This means that the perpetrator’s direct presence at the moment of the blast was not required, and the detonation was carried out from a distance. This method of activation is characteristic of targeted assassinations and allows the organizers to distance themselves from the blast site. The exact causes and circumstances of the colonel's death, as well as the identity of the injured family member, have not been disclosed in open sources.

Possible Connection to Aviation

Russian military bloggers, bidding farewell to the deceased, used the phrase about a "eternal flight," which may indicate that the officer belonged to aviation branches of the military. At the same time, there is no official confirmation of this connection in open data, and this thesis should be viewed merely as an assumption based on the context of obituaries rather than as an established fact.

Series of Car Bombing Incidents

Such explosions are not isolated events. At the end of St. Petersburg's Slavyanka district in late August, a lieutenant colonel of the Russian Armed Forces who served in air defense units was killed in a similar manner; his wife, who was nearby, survived and was taken to the hospital. According to Fontanka, the device was also detonated remotely in this case. Thus, the incident in Shushary has become a continuation of a recurring series of events in the suburbs of St. Petersburg.

Broader Context: Assassinations of Officers in Russia Over Two Years

Car bombings targeting Russian military personnel reportedly occur regularly: over the past two years, at least six assassination attempts against high-ranking officers have been carried out in Russia. In particular, in April 2025 in Balashikha near Moscow, the deputy head of the Main Operations Department of the Russian General Staff, Yaroslav Moskalik, was killed in a car explosion, and in December of that year, the head of the operational training department of the General Staff, Fanil Sarvarov, was killed by a car bomb in southern Moscow. The totality of these episodes indicates a steady trend of targeted attacks on the officer corps.