Car Bomb Kills Russian Colonel in St. Petersburg
A car bomb killed a Russian colonel in St. Petersburg on November 12, prompting a criminal investigation into the assassination.
A remote-controlled car bomb killed a Russian military officer on November 12 in the Shushary neighborhood of St. Petersburg's Pushkin district. The victim, identified by some sources as Dmitry Lobodin, a 57-year-old colonel and chief navigator of the 6th Guards Air and Air Defense Forces Army, died when an explosive device attached to the underside of his SUV detonated as he left his residential courtyard.
The blast destroyed the dark blue SUV and damaged a nearby passenger bus. While one report initially suggested a family member was injured, other sources stated the colonel was alone in the vehicle. The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the murder.
Authorities believe a 31-year-old local resident attached the bomb at 1:00 a.m. before fleeing to Moldova via Istanbul. Reports indicate the explosive device was delivered to the region from the Baltic states via a balloon. This attack follows a similar bombing of Lt-Col Sergei Sechkov in the same neighborhood in August, as well as other attacks in Moscow and Crimea. Russia has previously attributed such assassinations of military officials to Ukrainian secret services, though Ukraine has not commented on this specific incident.
