Media: Officer killed in St Petersburg blast was on "kill list" VIDEO / PHOTO

A Russian military officer was reportedly killed in a car explosion in St Petersburg on August 27, according to Russian and Ukrainian media reports.

The officer was identified as Major Sergei Sechkov, who served in the 332nd Independent Guards Helicopter Regiment, ASTRA reports.

Ukrainian military intelligence accused the regiment in May 2022 of carrying out missile and bombing strikes against civilians in Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

The Agency reported that Sechkov’s father confirmed his son had been killed in the explosion. ASTRA also reported that information about the officer matched previously published data.

According to leaked databases cited by The Agency, Sechkov was 43 and originally from Ryazan. His wife, Anna, was injured in the blast.

The couple reportedly lived in Shushary’s Slavyanka district, around 100 metres from where the explosion occurred.

According to 78.ru, Sechkov had previously told his superiors that he was on a “kill list” and routinely checked his car before leaving.

Fontanka reported on August 28 that a 24-year-old woman had allegedly planted the bomb in the officer’s car before flying via Türkiye to Moldova on August 27.

The circumstances of the explosion and the identities of those responsible have not been independently established.

By Aghakazim Guliyev