Moscow car bombing injures former Ukrainian PM adviser

A car bombing in Moscow on Friday left Sergei Zavorotnyi seriously injured. Zavorotnyi, 72, had served as an adviser to Ukraine's former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. Russia's Investigative Committee confirmed he was hospitalized following the explosion.

The attack occurred as part of a string of incidents linked to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. On Thursday, a military serviceman was killed in St. Petersburg by a bomb placed in his vehicle. The Investigative Committee did not identify the victim or specify who was behind the St. Petersburg bombing.

Zavorotnyi previously worked as a journalist for the Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda. He later wrote a book about the 2014 ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. He also ran an online outlet that criticized Ukrainian authorities.

Mykola Azarov, who also resides in Russia, told state television that he believes his former adviser was targeted because of his public criticism. Azarov served as prime minister under Yanukovych, who fled to Russia after being forced from office by protesters in February 2014.

The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence identified Zavorotnyi as an officer with Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service in a report on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Russian channel REN TV reported that Zavorotnyi is in a coma after the Moscow explosion.

The Fontanka news outlet reported details on the St. Petersburg attack, stating the victim was a colonel. It claimed the bomb was flown over the border from Ukraine in a balloon and planted by a man working at a grocery store near the victim's apartment. The man allegedly fled Russia immediately after the blast.

Ukrainian authorities have not commented on either the Moscow or St. Petersburg bombings. Moscow has blamed Kyiv for a series of recent attacks targeting individuals involved in the war. In August of this year, a bomb killed five people in a central Moscow restaurant, and a drone factory director was injured in Yekaterinburg. In September, a military serviceman was shot in the Saratov region near a major bomber base.