Putin colonel dead in St Petersburg car bomb blast as Trump's peace envoys arrive in Moscow

Detailed summary

A Russian colonel was killed in a car blast in St Petersburg on Thursday - the same day US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkof arrived in Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin

A Russian colonel has been killed in a car bombing in St Petersburg as US peace envoys arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The blast occurred on Kolpinsky Prospekt in the city's Pushkin district on Thursday, while the officer was driving his SUV.

A remotely detonated explosive device had been attached to the underside of the vehicle, Russian news outlet Fontanka reported. TV channel 78 identified the victim as the chief navigator of Russia's 6th Air and Air Defence Army.

There will be immediate suspicions that Ukraine's secret services are behind the attack. Moscow has repeatedly blamed Ukrainian intelligence services for car bombings targeting Russian military and security officials.

In August, Lt-Col Sergei Sechkov, 43, of Russia's Aerospace Forces, was killed in a car bombing in St Petersburg.

Pro-war Telegram channel Voevoda reacted to the latest explosion by writing: "Another vehicle blown up. Another terrorist attack targeting a service member. Relevant authorities - are you actually going to do anything about this? I’m not even talking about a reciprocal response. But what about basic protection, at the very least?"

Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case "into the murder of a military officer".

The 6th Guards Air Force and Air Defence Army is one of Russia's most strategically important aviation formations, responsible for protecting airspace over St Petersburg and much of the country's north-western frontier with NATO. Its units have also been involved in Russia's war against Ukraine.

The apparent attack came as President Donald Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Putin about the results of US-mediated talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

Opening of the article, excerpted from Daily Mirror. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.