Russia's Investigative Committee said Friday it had opened a criminal probe after an explosion set fire to a car in the Moscow region, with unconfirmed reports that a senior military figure was targeted.
The Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it had opened a criminal case over "an explosion in a car in the town of Balashikha".
Images from the scene posted on social media showed a blaze that had gutted a car parked near blocks of flats in the town east of Moscow.
Security camera footage posted by the Izvestia newspaper showed a massive explosion from a parked car, sending fragments flying into the air. The blast happens just as someone can be seen walking towards the car.
The TASS state news agency reported, citing unnamed law enforcement officers, that "the cause of the blast was an improvised explosive device" and that fragments found at the scene had been sent for testing.
It reported that the explosive device was packed with metal fragments designed to cause maximum harm.
RIA Novosti state news agency cited an unnamed emergency services official as saying that according to initial information, one person was killed.
Russian Telegram channel Mash, which has purported links to law enforcement, wrote that the explosion had killed a senior military figure from the main operational directorate of Russia's General Staff.
Russian authorities have not officially confirmed any casualties.
The blast appeared to be similar in nature to previous attacks on Russians linked to Moscow's military offensive in Ukraine. Kyiv has in some cases claimed responsibility.
These include the August 2022 car bombing of nationalist Darya Dugina and an explosion in a Saint Petersburg cafe in April 2023 that killed high-profile military correspondent Maxim Fomin, known as Vladlen Tatarsky.
Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian military's chemical weapons unit, was killed by a bomb planted in a scooter in Moscow in December, the boldest assassination claimed by Kyiv since the start of the conflict.
With AFP
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