- Pro-Russian paramilitary leader Armen Sargsyan dies after a blast in Moscow; investigation underway.
- Explosion injures multiple people, including Sargsyan’s bodyguard, amid rising tensions in the Ukraine conflict.
- Ukraine’s security service had accused Sargsyan of recruiting prisoners to fight in the war.
A pro-Russian paramilitary leader in eastern Ukraine, Armen Sargsyan, has died in hospital after sustaining critical injuries in a Moscow explosion on Monday morning, according to Russian media reports.
Sargsyan, the commander of the “Arbat” battalion, was caught in a blast at the entrance of a residential building in north-west Moscow, approximately 12km (7 miles) from the Kremlin. Severely wounded, he was airlifted to a hospital and placed in intensive care but later succumbed to his injuries, as reported by reliable Telegram sources.
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At least one other person, reportedly one of Sargsyan’s bodyguards, was also seriously injured, with some sources suggesting another fatality.
Sargsyan had long been wanted by Ukraine’s security service (SBU), which accused him of recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine. In December, the SBU described him as a “crime boss” and a close associate of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. He had been on an international wanted list since May 2014 for alleged involvement in murders in Kyiv.
TASS news agency quoted law enforcement officials stating that the attack was “carefully planned and ordered,” with investigators working to identify those responsible.
Images shared on social media show a devastated entrance hall with rubble, shattered windows, and collapsed plasterwork.
Olga Voronova, a local resident, told AFP she was “very scared” and puzzled by the attack. “We have strict security in place. Guards check every car at the checkpoint, and we even have to register guests, including family members,” she said.
Born in Gorlovka, a town in Ukraine’s Donetsk region occupied by Russia since 2014, Sargsyan was also the head of the Boxing Federation of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
In a Telegram post confirming his death, Gorlovka’s mayor, Ivan Prikhodko, hailed Sargsyan’s “most significant achievement” as the creation and leadership of a special forces battalion.
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The “Arbat” battalion has been active in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched a surprise offensive in August 2024.
Moscow and Russian-occupied territories have seen a series of high-profile attacks on figures linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In late 2024, senior Russian naval officer Valery Trankovsky and Russian prison chief Sergei Yevsyukov were both killed in car bomb attacks in occupied Ukraine.
