A senior Russian military official in charge of the country’s ammunition died in a car bombing outside of Moscow, Russian media reported on Tuesday.
Col. Damir Davydov, head of the Kremlin’s defense ministry’s artillery wing, was assassinated outside of his home in Balashikha, a town about six miles from Moscow.
Russian independent outlet The Insider reported that Ukraine’s Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was responsible for the assassination.
Ukraine has not commented on the incident.
Russian authorities notably only stated that a man was killed in the assassination, but did not confirm his identity.
Additionally, Kremlin Spokesperson Dimitry Peskov refused to comment on the victim’s identity. Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the incident and that investigations were still ongoing.
Kremlin refuses to acknowledge victim of car bombing assassination
“An explosion took place, but the details, as you understand, are not subject to disclosure in connection with the investigation that is underway,” Peskov said. “Of course, this is a matter for our special services.”
Russian independent media site Agentstvo reported on Wednesday that this is the first instance in which the Kremlin refused to acknowledge the victim’s identity in the assassination of a Russian military official.
The Insider reported that Davydov was still alive immediately after the blast, according to eyewitness accounts. Unconfirmed reports cited by the outlet said that he died while waiting for emergency services to arrive at the scene.
Unverified Russian Telegram accounts stated that a car bomb with the equivalent of nearly 400 grams of TNT was placed under the driver’s seat.
Notably, the incident happened less than a kilometer away from where Lieutenant-General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in 2025. Davydov lived in the Aviatorov neighborhood of Balashikha, where apartments are allocated by the Russian Defense Ministry to members of the military or veterans.
According to the Insider, Davydov has been a target of Ukrainian authorities due to his alleged war crimes. A Ukrainian database called the book of executioners alleged that Davydov was directly involved in planning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, during which he organized ammunition for Russian troops.
This comes as Russia has stepped up its strikes on Ukraine over the past few months. In March, Moscow shot over 7,000 glide bombs at Ukraine, over 1,500 more than in February.
In late May, Russia shot approximately 1,000 Shahed drones at Ukraine over the period of three days.
Russian authorities probe second car bomb incident in one day
Notably, Russian authorities discovered a second car bomb in southwestern Moscow. Investigators claimed that it was meant to target an employee of a scientific production enterprise. It was not clear how that device detonated.
According to Russian investigative services, a teenage girl was told by unidentified people to pick up the bomb and handed it to a teenage boy who placed it on the car along with a GPS tracker, the committee said.
There were no casualties, and the suspects have been charged.
