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Two police officers and one civilian were killed late Tuesday in an explosion in Moscow during an attempt to detain a suspicious individual, Russian authorities said.
The Russian Investigative Committee said two traffic police officers noticed a suspicious person standing near their patrol vehicle on Yeletskaya Street in southern Moscow.
When the officers approached the individual to carry out a detention, an explosive device detonated.
The blast killed both police officers at the scene.
The suspect, who was near the officers at the time of the explosion, was also killed, investigators said.
Following the incident, investigators and forensic experts were dispatched to the area to examine the scene and collect evidence.
The Investigative Committee said a criminal case had been opened in Moscow in connection with what it described as an attempt on the lives of traffic police officers.
Authorities said the explosion occurred close to the location where a senior Russian military official was killed in a car bombing two days earlier, raising questions about a possible link between the incidents.
Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the armed forces’ operational training department, was killed on Monday when an explosive device planted under a car detonated in the Russian capital.
Sarvarov, 56, was the third military official to have been killed in bomb attacks in Moscow over the past year, according to Russian officials.
Russia has said it suspects Ukraine was behind Monday’s car bombing, though Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the allegation.
It remains unclear whether the two explosions are connected.
Russian media identified the two police officers killed in Tuesday’s explosion as Ilya Klimanov, 24, and Maxim Gorbunov, 25.
A resident living nearby told Reuters that the blast was loud and resembled the sound of the car bombing that occurred earlier in the week.
“There was an explosion. It was a loud bang; like with the car a few days ago,” the witness said.
Authorities said investigations into both incidents are ongoing as security services continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the explosions.
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