Ukrainian Intelligence Officer: New Moscow Blast Is Our Work VIDEO

A Ukrainian military intelligence officer, known as the GUR, told The Associated Press that the deadly attack early Tuesday in southern Moscow was carried out as part of an operation by his agency.

Three people, including two police officers, were killed in a blast days after the killing in identical fashion of Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov in the same area of the Russian capital, the AP reported. The GUR (Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate) officer spoke on condition of anonymity, the AP noted.

Russian authorities have not commented on who may be behind the attack. Since Moscow invaded Ukraine nearly four years ago, Russian authorities have blamed Kiev for several assassinations of military officers and public figures in Russia. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of them.

Two traffic police officers were approaching a suspicious person when an explosive device exploded early yesterday morning, Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement. The officers and another person standing nearby died from their wounds.

The Russian Interior Ministry named the officers as 24-year-old Lieutenant Ilya Klimanov, who joined the Moscow police in October 2023, and 25-year-old Lieutenant Maxim Gorbunov. Gorbunov had a wife and a 9-month-old daughter, the statement said.

Lieutenant General Sarvarov, who was killed in the same area on Monday, was head of the Operational Training Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

Investigators said they were looking into whether Ukraine was behind the assassination, which was the third such assassination of a senior Russian military official in just over a year. Ukraine has not commented on the case, the AP reported.