Car bomb kills Russian colonel in St Petersburg, suspect reportedly flees to Moldova

The blast on Kolpinskoye Avenue

A car exploded at about 07:00 local time on Thursday, 12 November 2026, on Kolpinskoye Avenue in the Pushkinsky district of southern St Petersburg. The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a murder case over the death of a serviceman but has not yet released his identity. Local outlet Fontanka reported that the victim was a colonel, and reports differ on his unit: one cited the 67th Air Army, while others named the 6th Air and Air Defence Army.

According to local media, the officer was alone in the car as it left the courtyard of his home, when the device fixed under the vehicle went off, possibly triggered remotely. The blast smashed the windows of a passing city bus carrying 30 to 40 people, none of whom were hurt, Fontanka reported. Traffic was halted while investigators and forensic experts examined the wreck.

The suspect and his alleged escape

Local media describe the suspected bomber as a 31-year-old man from Pskov who had lived in St Petersburg for three years. About a month before the attack he reportedly took a handyman job at a Lenta supermarket near the site, which allowed him to track the victim's hours and movements. Leaked documents reportedly show a donation to Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, a group banned in Russia, and an administrative case over an unauthorised demonstration.

The man reportedly planted the explosive overnight, took a taxi to Pulkovo airport and boarded a flight to Turkey at 02:43. He then reached Moldova, which has no extradition agreement with Moscow, and Fontanka reported he was already heading to Chisinau when the bomb went off. Local media say the explosive reached him through the Baltic states, partly carried with a balloon. It is still unclear whether the blast was triggered by the car's movement or by a third party tracking it.

Earlier attacks on the same avenue

The method resembled an attack on 27 August on the same avenue, which killed another Russian serviceman. Independent media identified him as a 43-year-old lieutenant colonel in a helicopter regiment, and his wife, who was in the car, was wounded but survived. Authorities suspected a 24-year-old Russian woman who had fled abroad and was linked to Ukrainians, although Kyiv did not confirm this.

Between December 2024 and December 2025, a general in charge of defence against chemical, biological and radiological attacks and two lieutenant generals were killed by explosive devices. Russian authorities blamed Ukraine's intelligence service for several of these blasts. Ukraine has claimed some attacks since the February 2022 invasion and stayed silent on others, while car bombings have also been reported in Moscow and Crimea in recent months.

What remains unclear

The Investigative Committee has not officially stated the cause of the blast or named the victim, so the colonel rank and unit details come from local media. The suspect's route, the balloon and Baltic claims and the reported remote trigger also rest on local reporting rather than official confirmation. Kyiv has not commented on Thursday's blast. In a statement on Telegram, the Investigative Committee said all circumstances of the incident were being investigated and that forensic examinations had been ordered.