At least one person has been killed and four others wounded in a bomb blast in the lobby of a luxury apartment building in Moscow.
The explosion happened as a man with bodyguards entered the Scarlet Sails complex in the capital, Russian media said.
Footage released by Russia’s main investigative agency showed shattered glass doors and debris scattered around the building’s lobby.
Footage showed the aftermath of the blast. Pic: AP
The attack targeted a pro-Russian paramilitary leader from eastern Ukraine, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
It called the blast an “assassination attempt” and identified the suspected target as Armen Sarkisyan, who Ukraine has accused of aiding Russia’s war in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.
Mr Sarkisyan was in a critical condition and part of his leg was being amputated, according to RIA, another state news agency.
Russian authorities said a criminal case had been launched into the explosion.
“The assassination attempt on Sarkisyan was carefully planned and was ordered. Investigators are currently identifying those who ordered the crime,” a police official said, according to TASS.
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Officers patrol near the site of the blast. Pic: Reuters
‘Crime boss’
Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service previously described Mr Sarkisyan as a “crime boss” in the Donetsk region, which Russia has largely controlled since 2014. It also said he was officially suspected of participating in and aiding “illegal armed groups”.
The SBU said Mr Sarkisyan had formed a pro-Russian military formation made up of local convict fighters and organised purchases of supplies for frontline units.
In December, Ukraine claimed a bomb blast outside a Moscow apartment building that killed the Russian General Igor Kirillov.
