Serviceman killed in St Petersburg car explosion, Russian media report colonel's death

A serviceman was killed when a car exploded in St Petersburg on the morning of 12 November, the Russian Federation Investigative Committee confirmed. Russian media reports identified the man as a colonel, although the committee did not disclose his rank in its account of the incident.

The committee said the explosion occurred in the city's Pushkinsky district. Investigators opened a murder investigation and were examining the scene, with forensic examinations being commissioned as part of their work. The official confirmation established that the person killed was serving in the military but did not confirm the more detailed media accounts of his service.

The Russian Telegram channel Megapolis reported that the vehicle exploded on Kolpinskoye Highway and that a serviceman had died. Local news outlet Fontanka, citing its own source, described the deceased as a colonel. Kremlin-aligned news agency TASS also reported a man's death, citing law enforcement officials, but did not specify whether he was a serviceman.

According to Fontanka's account, the colonel had left his home in Shushary and entered his car before beginning to drive out of the courtyard. An explosive device detonated as he was leaving, the outlet reported. It said the driver died at the scene.

Fontanka revised its reporting about whether anyone else had been inside the vehicle. Its initial account said a relative of the serviceman was travelling with him and had been injured. The outlet subsequently reported that the colonel had been alone, with no one occupying the passenger seat.

The area around the explosion was cordoned off. Fontanka reported that Russian security services were looking for whoever may have placed the improvised explosive device. Separately, preliminary reporting by the Exilenova+ Telegram channel identified the man killed as an air force colonel.

The incident followed another explosion involving a car carrying a Russian serviceman on Kolpinskoye Highway on 27 August. Russian media reported that a lieutenant colonel serving in an air force and air defence unit was killed in that blast and that his wife was injured.

In the August case, the Russian Federation Investigative Committee later confirmed that the man who died was a serviceman. It also confirmed that the injured woman was his wife.