On the morning of Monday, December 22, a car belonging to General Fanil Salvarov of the Russian General Staff exploded in a parking lot on a street in southern Moscow. A 300-gram TNT explosive was placed under the vehicle, killing him on the spot. According to Associated Press, this is the third high-ranking Russian officer killed in over a year.

According to Russian media reports, the latest explosion occurred just 150 meters away from a building where several officers of the Russian military intelligence agency reside. Russian President Putin was immediately informed of the incident.

Why is General Salvarov important to Russia?

At 56 years old and having received multiple honors, General Salvarov has been called a "key figure" in Russia's military operations in Ukraine.

Le Figaro reported that over the past 30 years, Salvarov has been involved in almost all of Russia's military actions abroad. He participated in the Chechen War and was involved in Russia's military operations in Syria. In 2022, he took part in the invasion of Ukraine. Since the war began, the department he led has directly participated in formulating and advancing Russia's military operations in Ukraine. A Russian military observer said, "It is heartbreaking that the enemy was able to find and eliminate an officer of this level. Such individuals are extremely rare and difficult to replace."

A Russian military expert, Alexei Leontiev, pointed out that General Salvarov played a key role in "operational training and the preparation of generals and the general staff." He unhesitatingly called the incident a "terrorist attack." He said, "The operational training department he led simulated various combat scenarios in the Ukrainian theater, and the most realistic plans were then adopted and implemented by the general staff."

In his view, the repeated targeted assassinations of Russian personnel expose significant security vulnerabilities. He also said that during the Soviet era, generals lived in special residential areas with state-provided villas and enjoyed full protection. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this practice faced criticism. Now, generals live like ordinary people, driving regular cars. This is not just a matter of investigating the case, but more importantly, it is crucial to determine how the criminals accessed the general's information and daily routines. "We must seriously consider how to ensure their safety," he said.

Three assassinations of high-ranking Russian generals in over a year

Russian authorities accuse the Ukrainian intelligence agency of being behind the plot. Previously, Russia had also attributed several suspected assassination attempts to Ukraine.

According to a report by Associated Press, just over a year ago, Major General Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia's nuclear, biological, and chemical defense forces, was killed outside his apartment building by a bomb hidden in an electric scooter. His assistant also died in the explosion. However, the Ukrainian Security Service later claimed responsibility for the attack. A Uzbek man was soon arrested and charged with carrying out the assassination of Kirillov on behalf of the Ukrainian security services. Putin referred to Kirillov's death as a "major failure" of Russia's security agencies and stated that relevant departments should learn from the mistake and improve efficiency.

In April of this year, another high-ranking Russian officer, Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Directorate of the General Staff, was killed by a car bomb near his apartment in the suburbs of Moscow. A suspect was quickly arrested. A few days after Moskalik's assassination, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said he had received a report from the head of Ukraine's foreign intelligence service about the "elimination of high-ranking Russian military figures" and said, "Justice will eventually come," without explicitly mentioning Moskalik.

Different from previous assassinations, although Moscow has clearly pointed to Ukrainian intelligence agencies, this event has not been publicly claimed by the Ukrainian side.

Ukrainian-Russia Ceasefire Talks at a Critical Stage: Was There Involvement of Western Intelligence Agencies?

Le Figaro noted that it remains an unresolved question whether the Ukrainian intelligence agency acted alone or collaborated with Western friendly countries, especially the United States. According to a previous disclosure by The New York Times, several Russian generals near the front lines in Ukraine were eliminated with U.S. intelligence support. In May 2022, the newspaper cited anonymous U.S. intelligence sources stating that U.S. intelligence provided to the Ukrainian military helped identify and strike more than a dozen Russian generals near the front line. However, the U.S. National Security Council subsequently denied Washington's involvement in these assassinations.

Zelenskyy said on Monday that the preliminary draft of the peace agreement proposed by the United States largely met Kyiv's requirements, although he also hinted that neither side would get everything they wanted in the final agreement after nearly four years of war. Speaking about recent talks with U.S. officials, Zelenskyy said, "Overall, the current stage's proposal is quite solid."

For months, U.S. President Trump has been pushing for a peace agreement, but negotiations have been difficult due to serious differences between Moscow and Kyiv. However, U.S. envoy Witkov said on Sunday that he held "productive and constructive" talks with Ukrainian and European representatives in Florida. Zelenskyy said that nearly 90% of Ukraine's demands had been included in the draft agreement.

Zelenskyy also said on Monday that he met with Ukrainian military commanders, who reported that the Ukrainian defenses remained strong and could withstand Russia's fierce attacks. Ukrainian officials said that in a series of strikes inside Russia, they hit an oil terminal, a pipeline, two parked jet fighters, and two ships.

These attacks are part of Ukraine's operations aimed at disrupting Russia's war capabilities and creating unrest behind the front lines. There, Ukrainian forces, which are outnumbered, are struggling to hold back Russia's larger army. These actions also aim to weaken President Putin's image of being "militarily superior and participating in U.S.-led peace negotiations from a position of strength." Currently, negotiations have not made progress on key issues.

Given that the Trump administration is pushing for a resolution of the war through negotiations, if the U.S. were indeed involved in the assassination of General Salvarov, it would be particularly intriguing.

Source: rfi

Original: toutiao.com/article/7586844127405376050/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.