Driver Killed in Car Explosion in Moscow Region Near Site of Previous General's Assassination

Col. Damir Davydov, 57, who headed the supply directorate of Russia's Main Missile and Artillery Directorate (GRAU) and was responsible for distributing missiles and artillery ammunition to Russian forces, was killed when an improvised explosive device planted beneath his BMW X3 was remotely detonated as he pulled out of a parking space on Koldunova Street in Balashikha's Aviatorov neighborhood. Security camera footage showed the vehicle erupting in flames and rolling into a parked car; bystanders pulled Davydov from the wreckage while he was still alive, but he died before paramedics arrived. Russia's Investigative Committee confirmed the explosion and opened a criminal case but declined to publicly name the victim, an unusual step that independent Russian outlet Agentstvo noted was unprecedented for the assassination of a senior military official. The Kremlin confirmed the explosion the following day, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stating that Putin had been briefed but that details could not be disclosed due to the ongoing investigation. The blast occurred less than a mile from where Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a near-identical car bombing in April 2025, in the same Aviatorov neighborhood, which was originally built as a residential district for military personnel. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility, though Ukrainian intelligence services are widely believed to be behind a series of similar assassinations of Russian military figures inside Russia. On the same day, Russian authorities also thwarted a separate car bomb attack in southwestern Moscow targeting an employee of a scientific-industrial enterprise, allegedly carried out by two teenagers acting on instructions from Ukrainian handlers, both of whom were detained.