Description: Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov has been assassinated on the Yasenevaya street in Moscow by a car bomb. The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, stated that Russian security and intelligence services have launched investigations into the murder of the general and that his loss represented an unfortunate tragedy. The primary suspect is the Ukrainian intelligence service, which has refused to comment and share their position on the assassination. Sarvarov served as the primary educator and trainer of the Russian armed forces. His previous working experience consisted of serving in the Chechnya conflicts in 1980’ and military service in Syria between 2015 and 2016. With the murder of the general, Ukraine is currently surpassing Russia’s number of targeted assassinations and elevates the covert game. The assassination arrives at a sensitive period of time when Russian and American negotiators are attempting to broker a peace agreement that could end the war in Ukraine.
Impact: Sarvarov’s murder signals that diplomatic developments and wartime activities on the ground currently don’t coincide, which in turn indicates that little to no progress is expected to arrive from the newest meetings between Russian and US officials. The targeted assassinations campaign began with the Russian invasion and has ever since transformed into a front for sustained combat where both Russia and Ukraine target officials on both sides which are pivotal for the warfare efforts by both countries. Ukraine, despite leading in terms of targeted assassinations, couldn’t possibly expect to inflict damages or any kind of changes on the battlefronts, since Russia has effortlessly adapted to substituting key military and political personnel within their ranks. Ukraine’s efforts despite being executed with precision as a result of months of intelligence work contribute to the military’s morale and the credibility and integrity of the country’s intelligence services, which are fighting in unforgiving conditions to halt Russian advances. Ukraine’s position remains precarious and the country has difficult choices ahead such as territorial concessions and denouncing ambitions to join NATO, if it aims to end the war with Russia.