MOSCOW, Feb 24, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - A man detonated an explosive device beside a 
police patrol car in central Moscow early Tuesday, killing one officer and 
wounding two others, the Russian interior ministry said.

The blast occurred at about 12:05 am (2105 GMT Monday) on Savyolovsky railway 
station square, according to the ministry's statement on Telegram.

Savyolovsky station, in northern Moscow, is one of the capital's main railway 
hubs.

The attacker approached traffic police officers sitting in their patrol 
vehicle and then an explosive device detonated, the statement said, adding 
that the attacker died at the scene.

According to state news agency TASS, the targeted patrol car was heavily 
damaged but did not catch fire.

Local media outlets published images showing a police vehicle with shattered 
windows near railway tracks.

The area was cordoned off by police and several ambulances sent to the scene.

The ministry initially said the perpetrator had fled. Minutes later, it said 
the man was found dead at the site after inspecting the scene and reviewing 
surveillance footage.

Authorities gave no immediate details about the explosive or the attacker's 
motive.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it had 
opened a case for attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and for the 
illegal possession of explosive devices.

In December 2025, two police officers were killed in a blast in southern 
Moscow as they tried to stop a suspicious person near their vehicle, near the 
site where a Russian general had been killed days earlier.

There have been a string of assassinations of Russian army officials on 
Russian soil during Moscow's four-year war against Ukraine.

Earlier this month, a top Russian military intelligence officer was shot 
several times and wounded in an attack Moscow blamed on Kyiv.