A traffic police officer was killed and two others wounded early Tuesday when an explosive device detonated near a police vehicle in central Moscow, Russian authorities reported.
The attack occurred just after midnight at Savyolovsky railway station square, a major transportation hub in northern Moscow, according to a statement from the Russian Interior Ministry. The ministry stated that the attacker approached the officers’ patrol car and detonated an explosive, dying at the scene.
Senior Police Lieutenant Denis Bratushchenko was identified as the officer killed in the blast, according to a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry. The two injured officers were hospitalized, their condition currently unknown.
Initial reports indicated the attacker had fled the scene, but investigators later determined, after reviewing CCTV footage and inspecting the area, that the perpetrator died in the explosion, according to Russia’s state news agency Tass. The targeted patrol car sustained significant damage.
Authorities have not released details regarding the type of explosive device used or a potential motive for the attack. The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case investigating the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and the illegal possession of explosive devices.
The incident comes several weeks after a similar attack in Moscow in December 2025, where two police officers were killed by a blast even as attempting to stop a suspicious individual near their vehicle. That incident occurred near the site where a Russian general had been killed days prior.
The explosion in Moscow also occurs against a backdrop of reported attacks targeting Russian military officials and infrastructure during Moscow’s ongoing four-year war in Ukraine. Earlier this month, a senior Russian military intelligence officer was wounded in a shooting that Moscow attributed to Kyiv.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Russian Interior Ministry had not released further details regarding the investigation, and no groups have claimed responsibility for the attack.
