ABRAnews Open the whole story. Sign in
World

Car bomb in Moscow wounds former aide to Ukraine's ex-prime minister

Russian investigators opened an inquiry, a day after a St Petersburg car bomb killed a serviceman, and Ukrainian authorities have not commented.

8 news outlets reported this
Liberal2 outletsLatest in a string of attacksCenter5 outletsBombing details, the victim's background, earlier attacksConservative1 outletSecond car bombing, as Russian media report
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

A car bomb in Moscow on Friday, Nov. 13, wounded Sergei Zavorotnyi, a former adviser to Mykola Azarov, who was Ukraine's prime minister under President Viktor Yanukovych. Russia's Investigative Committee says Zavorotnyi was injured while driving and taken to a hospital. It has opened a criminal inquiry and has not named suspects.

Two Russian outlets, the 112 Telegram channel and REN TV, said his left arm had been lost, and REN TV also said he was comatose. Azarov, who lives in Russia, told state TV he was "shocked" and believes Zavorotnyi was targeted over his criticism of Ukrainian authorities. The day before, a bomb in a car in St Petersburg killed a military serviceman.

Fontanka called the victim a colonel, and other Russian online media called him a senior air force officer. The Investigative Committee did not identify him. Both attacks fit a series of bombings and shootings that have hit people tied to the war in Ukraine, and Moscow holds Kyiv responsible.

Ukrainian authorities have not commented on either bombing, though Kyiv has claimed some earlier attacks inside Russia.

Three sides of the story

2Liberal5Center1Conservative

8 news outlets reported this

Tap a color or swipe sideways to switch sides.

Liberal2 outlets

Latest in a string of attacks

Al Jazeera English leads with the Moscow car bombing that critically injured an adviser to Ukraine's former prime minister. The previous day, it notes, a comparable bombing in St Petersburg left a military officer dead. It cites Russia's Investigative Committee and Azarov, who told state-run TV he was "shocked" and believes Zavorotnyi was targeted over his criticism of the Ukrainian government.

Its correspondent Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow, says the device was reportedly planted under the car and set off remotely. She adds that "all the attacks are considered to be orchestrated by the Ukrainian side." The Daily Beast headlines a second car bomb attack in two days and places it in a year of killings of Russian officers that the Kremlin has blamed on Ukraine.

It names Maj. Sergei Sechkov, killed in St Petersburg in August, and Gen. Damir Davydov, killed near Moscow in June. It also passes on Fontanka's report that a 31-year-old suspect planted the St Petersburg bomb and has since fled Russia.

Center5 outlets

Bombing details, the victim's background, earlier attacks

BBC News headlines the wounding of an aide to a "fugitive" Ukrainian ex-PM and quotes the Investigative Committee's Telegram statement. It notes that a US Senate report described Zavorotny as a Russian foreign intelligence officer, and it reports Azarov calling his condition "rather critical."

The AP report run by The Seattle Times says he was critically injured and lists earlier attacks, including the 2024 killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, which Ukraine's SBU said it organized. Newsweek asks "What Happened in Moscow's Car Bomb Blast?" It relays the Telegram channel SHOT on the explosive under the driver's seat and Kommersant on an attempted murder inquiry that may become a terrorism probe.

Deutsche Welle folds the bombing into its Friday war updates, citing Kommersant, Ren TV and Azarov's TASS remarks, beside items on EU participation in peace talks and overnight drone strikes.

Conservative1 outlet

Second car bombing, as Russian media report

The New York Post runs a Reuters report whose headline stresses a "second car bombing in 2 days" and the wounding of a former Ukrainian prime minister's aide. The report begins with a former spokesman of an ex-prime minister aligned with Russia, hurt in Moscow on Friday, as Russian media reported. The report relies on the Kommersant newspaper, which said Sergei Zavorotniy was hospitalized after a car exploded in the Chertanovo district.

Ren TV and the 112 Telegram channel said he lost his left arm. The Baza Telegram channel published a photo of the damaged car. The report says the Investigative Committee opened an investigation, and Azarov told TASS he had no information beyond Zavorotniy surviving.

It describes the attack as the latest in "a series of apparent assassination attempts" inside Russia. It adds that some attacks have been claimed and others denied by Ukrainian sources, and that Kyiv has not commented on Thursday's attack.

What a side did not mention
  • Liberal outlets did not mentionA US Senate report described Zavorotnyi as an officer of Russia's foreign intelligence service Reported by BBC News, The Seattle Times, Newsweek
  • Conservative outlets did not mentionA US Senate report described Zavorotnyi as an officer of Russia's foreign intelligence service Reported by BBC News, The Seattle Times, Newsweek
All sources: 9 articles from 8 outlets

Liberal (2)

Center (6)

Conservative (1)

Related
  1. Six-day ceasefire holds in Russian-occupied Ukrainian city as aid mission prepares
  2. Russian strike on aid site in southern Ukraine kills at least 31, dozens missing
  3. Russian strikes hit Kyiv's power sites and a bridge ahead of US-brokered talks
  4. Russian serviceman killed in St. Petersburg car explosion, murder investigation opened
  5. Car bomb in Moscow wounds former aide to Ukraine's ex-prime ministerThis story