Pro-Russia Paramilitary Leader Armen Sargsyan Killed in Moscow Explosion

A well-known pro-Russian paramilitary leader, Armen Sargsyan, succumbed in a Moscow hospital due to serious injuries sustained from a blast that occurred on Monday morning, according to Russian media reports.

Explosion in Moscow Kills Sargsyan

Sargsyan commanded the "Arbat" battalion and was critically injured in an explosion in the hall of a residential building in north-west Moscow, about 12km (7 miles) from the Kremlin.

He was flown to hospital and treated in intensive care but later died, officials said. Telegram sources, usually well-informed in Russia, were the first to report his death.

Several others, including one of Sargsyan's bodyguards, were reportedly seriously injured in the blast. Some sources even claim that at least one other person was also killed.

Sargsyan's Alleged Crimes and Ties to Ukraine Conflict

In December 2023, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) branded Sargsyan a "crime boss", alleging that he had recruited prisoners to go and fight in Ukraine. The SBU further revealed that he had been on an international wanted list since May 2014 for alleged involvement in several murders committed in central Kyiv.

Sargsyan was also reported to be within the inner circle of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine's fugitive former president.

Planned Assassination? Investigators Probe Attack

Russian news agency TASS quoted law enforcement officials as saying the attack was carefully planned and ordered. Now, investigators try to find out who ordered the assassination.

Images from the scene show widespread destruction, with rubble, plaster, and shattered windows littering the entrance hall of the building.

Olga Voronova, a resident 36-year-old resident of Moscow told AFP that she was "very scared" and the explosion defied belief given strict security measures put in place.

Who Was Armen Sargsyan?

Born in the town of Gorlovka, Ukraine's Donetsk region-occupied since 2014 by Russia-Sargsyan played an important role within the region as its conflict wore on.

The mayor of **Gorlovka, Ivan Prikhodko, confirmed his death on Telegram, stating that Sargsyan's *"most significant achievement"* was to have led a special forces battalion.

Besides that, Sargsyan headed the Boxing Federation of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. His battalion, "Arbat," was active in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched an offensive in August 2024.

String of Assassinations Targets Russian Military Figures

The attack on Sargsyan is the latest in the string of high-profile assassinations targeting key figures supportive of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

December 2024: Senior Russian naval officer Valery Trankovsky and Russian prison boss Sergei Yevsyukov were killed in car bomb explosions in Russian-occupied Ukraine.
December 2024: A high-ranking Russian general and his assistant were assassinated in Moscow by Ukraine's security service, a Ukrainian source told the BBC.