Russian confesses to Moscow car bombing under Ukraine orders
A CCTV picture shows a car blast that reportedly injured an officer from Russia's GRU military intelligence is captured, Moscow, Russia, July 24, 2024. (Reuters Photo)


Russia's RIA state news agency on Friday aired a video featuring a Russian citizen who claimed he had detonated a bomb in a car, killing a military officer in Moscow earlier this week at the direction of the SBU, Ukraine's security service.

Reuters has not independently verified the man's claims, and Ukraine has not yet commented.

The Kommersant newspaper reported Wednesday that a car bomb had wounded an officer from Russia's military intelligence agency in northern Moscow. Other sources indicated that the injured individual was a regular military officer.

Russia's Interior Ministry said at the time that two people had been injured in the blast and that a criminal case had been opened. CCTV footage showed a Toyota Land Cruiser parked outside what appeared to be a residential complex exploding into a fireball.

Turkish authorities said late Wednesday they had arrested a Russian citizen suspected of the attack in Bodrum after he had flown in from Moscow.

On Friday, Russia's FSB security service said in a statement that the man, identified as Yevgeny Serebyrakov, had been brought back to Russia from Türkiye and handed over to investigators.

In a video released by RIA, which had been edited to remove certain references, Serebyrakov said he was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence last year and was instructed to kill "an officer."

He claimed in the video that he had assembled the components for a homemade bomb at his Ukrainian handler's request and placed it under the officer's vehicle.

He said he was promised Ukrainian citizenship and $10,000 to $20,000 as a reward for his work.