Moscow blast kills 2 Russian police officers tied to Ukrainian POW abuse, intelligence source says
Editor's note: This story was updated to include information about the alleged attacker in the explosion that killed two police officers.
Two police officers involved in the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an explosion in Moscow, sources within Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent on Dec. 24.
Russia's Investigative Committee confirmed that the explosion killed two police officers, as well as a third person who was nearby. The committee did not specify whether that individual was the attacker.
According to the HUR sources, the officers were involved in the systematic torture of Ukrainian POWs, practices that violate the Geneva Conventions and the laws and customs of war.
The attack appears to be part of an ongoing campaign targeting Russian officials linked to war crimes in Ukraine. Ukrainian intelligence sources said the officers had previously taken part in Russia's war against Ukraine and were implicated in the abuse of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).
The intelligence sources said the attack took place at around 1 a.m., when a local resident approached a police car parked near a police station and threw an improvised explosive device through the vehicle's window. The blast killed two officers inside the car and injured two more.
The attacker acted "in protest against the Kremlin's aggressive policy," according to the HUR sources. Russian authorities have not confirmed this claim.
Pro-Kremlin outlet RBC Russia later identified the alleged attacker as 24-year-old Pavel Golubenko, citing an unnamed law enforcement source. The outlet did not clarify whether Golubenko died in the explosion in Moscow.
According to the Russian Telegram channel Baza, Golubenko lived in the village of Kamenka in Russia's Ivanovo Oblast and worked as a press operator at a local factory. His relatives have not confirmed his death.
Russia's Investigative Committee said it opened a criminal case under articles related to attempts on the life of law enforcement officers and the illegal trafficking of explosive devices.
Russian forces have faced repeated accusations from Ukraine and international organizations of widespread mistreatment of captives since the start of the full-scale invasion.
The incident follows another high-profile attack in Moscow earlier this week. On Dec. 22, Fanil Sarvarov, head of the operational training department of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, was killed in a car bombing, the Investigative Committee reported.
