A car explosion in southern Moscow injured a former aide to a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician on Friday, according to Russian authorities, the second apparent attack in two days.
Sergey Zavorotny, who served as an adviser to the former pro-Russian prime minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov, was transported to a city hospital for medical care, the Investigative Committee of Russia for the city of Moscow said in a statement.
Azarov served as the Ukrainian prime minister from 2010 to 2014, when he fled to Russia during the street protests known as the Maidan Revolution .
The Russian Investigative Committee said that a comprehensive investigation into the explosion on Moscow’s Kirovogradskaya Street is underway.
Video from the scene shows a dark gray SUV that has been heavily damaged, with the windows apparently blown out.
It’s the latest in a series of apparent attacks or assassinations against political and military figures inside Russia. On Thursday, a car explosion in St. Petersburg killed a Russian serviceman, the local Investigative Committee said.
Russia has blamed Ukraine for earlier assassinations of military officials.
Ukrainian authorities have not commented on this week’s explosions.
The latest incidents come amid the United States’ latest diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin this week, and announced that European delegates will join the next round of peace talks .
The pair had flown to Moscow after trilateral talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi this week concluded with no clear breakthrough.
After speaking to Putin in Moscow, Kushner said: “Both sides have now agreed to expand the next round of negotiations to include our European partners.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
