INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY

Putin’s Missile Chief Killed in Fiery Car Blast

The car bombing occurred close to the scene where another Putin general was killed in April 2025.

A leading officer in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military has been killed in a suspected car bomb attack. Images and video shared on social media show the vehicle exploding in Balashikha, around six miles east of Moscow. The driver has been identified in Russian and Ukrainian media as Damir Davydov, a general in the supply department for the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian military. Investigators said that the driver died from his injuries at the scene, but did not disclose any further information. The car bombing occurred close to the scene where Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy chief of the Main Operations Directorate of Russia’s General Staff, was killed in a car bombing in April 2025. The same day, another car bomb was detected by authorities in south-west Moscow. The bomb was believed to be targeting an employee of a scientific production enterprise, reported Reuters. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there had been an explosion in Balashikha, but that the details “are not subject to disclosure in connection with ​the investigation that is underway.” Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for either car bomb.