Moscow Blast Targets Pro-Kremlin Armenian Unit Founder Wanted in Ukraine – The Moscow Times
An apparent bomb attack at a housing complex in northwestern Moscow targeted the founder of a Russian military unit made up of ethnic Armenians, state media reported early Monday, citing anonymous law enforcement sources.
Armen Sarkisyan, founder of the irregular Arbat Battalion, was initially reported as having been killed in the explosion. However, the Kommersant business daily later cited unnamed sources saying he was hospitalized in “highly critical condition,” while one of his bodyguards was killed.
Five people were wounded overall, according to Kommersant.
Video shared by law enforcement officials showed extensive damage in the lobby of the residential complex.
The state-run TASS news agency, citing unnamed law enforcement officials, reported that the bomb attack was “ordered and carefully planned,” but did not specify who was suspected to have been behind the blast.
Investigators said they were at the explosion scene as part of a criminal investigation. Kommersant noted that the probe could be reclassified as a terrorism investigation if evidence emerges of suspected Ukrainian involvement.
In addition to leading the Arbat Battalion, Russian media described Sarkisyan as the head of the boxing federation in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian media, Kyiv issued an international arrest warrant for Sarkisyan in 2014 over violence against pro-EU protesters. Ukrainian security services describe him as a “criminal authority” with connections to former president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia in 2014.
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