Vasily Prozorov, a former Ukrainian intelligence officer who defected to Russia prior to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, reportedly sustained injuries in a car bomb attack in northwestern Moscow on Friday afternoon, as per state media.
According to state-run TASS news agency, an explosive device detonated beneath Prozorov’s Toyota Land Cruiser, causing injuries. However, the extent of his injuries was not specified in the report, with one source suggesting he was “fine.”
Video footage of the suspected attack, shared by the Telegram news channel Shot, captured the moment of the explosion, which occurred shortly after Prozorov entered his vehicle. Another video from the Telegram news channel Baza showed Prozorov sitting on the damaged SUV’s back bumper, apparently without visible injuries.
Prozorov gained public attention in 2019 when he revealed at a press conference in Moscow that he had spied on Ukraine’s SBU for Russia following the ousting of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. The SBU claimed to have dismissed Prozorov in 2018 for misconduct.
In unconfirmed reports by the Telegram news channel 112, it was suggested that authorities in southern Ukraine’s partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region had thwarted an assassination attempt against Prozorov in Berdyansk approximately a year ago.
The Moscow branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal investigation into the explosion on Friday.