Media outlets identify Russian serviceman killed by car bomb in St Petersburg
A Russian serviceman who was killed by a car bomb in St Petersburg on 27 August has been identified as Major Sergei Sechkov of the 332nd Helicopter Regiment. He was listed in the Myrotvorets database and supposedly assassinated by a 24-year-old Russian woman who had been recruited by Ukrainians. [Myrotvorets, which means "peacemaker", is a Ukrainian website that publishes a running list (and sometimes personal details) of people whom the authors consider to be enemies of Ukraine – ed.]
Source: Russian media outlets 78.ru, Fontanka.ru, Agentstvo. News and Astra; Ukrainian Telegram channels Supernova+ and Exilenova+
Quote from Supernova+: "Major Sergei Sechkov is believed to have been killed in St Petersburg yesterday. He was listed in the Myrotvorets database with the rank of major."
Details: Sechkov's father confirmed to Agentstvo.News that his son had been killed in the blast. Details of Sechkov's biography also match information published yesterday in Russian media outlets.
Another outlet, 78.ru, identified the 43-year-old serviceman killed in the blast as Sergei S., who was born in Ryazan. According to the outlet, Sechkov had told his superiors that he was on a "kill list" and regularly checked his car before setting off.
Astra reported that Sechkov and his wife, Anna, lived around 100 metres away from the scene. Anna, who was also in the car at the time of the blast, works at an online marketplace collection point near where the incident occurred. She is currently in hospital. However, an eyewitness said reports circulating in the media the previous day that both of her legs had been blown off are untrue.
Resources linked to Russian military aviation have also confirmed the death of a Russian Air Force serviceman in St Petersburg on 27 August, Exilenova+ reported.
According to the Myrotvorets website, Sechkov was registered at an address in St Petersburg and served in the 332nd Separate Guards Helicopter Regiment of the 6th Air and Air Defence Army. He took part in the war against Ukraine. Defence Intelligence of Ukraine has described servicemen from the unit as "war criminals" and accused them of attacks on civilians on the Slobozhanshchyna front.
According to Fontanka, a 24-year-old woman attached an improvised explosive device to the underside of Sechkov's car. It is alleged that representatives of the Ukrainian Armed Forces contacted her several months ago via a messaging app, convinced her that she was "living in the wrong country", and offered to arrange for her to move to Ukraine after she had carried out the task of blowing up the car.
On the evening of 26 August, according to media reports, she placed the explosive device under the driver's seat and immediately left for Pulkovo airport. By 05:00 she had flown to Türkiye.
The FSB supposedly identified her almost immediately and contacted Türkiye, asking the authorities to detain her. However, Turkish law enforcement said that she had already flown on to Chișinău, Moldova.
Background:
- On the morning of 27 August, a car exploded in St Petersburg's Pushkinsky district. The media identified its owner as a lieutenant colonel serving in Russia's Air Force and air defence units and reported that he had died and his wife had been injured.
- The Russian Investigative Committee later said the victims had been identified and confirmed that the deceased was a serviceman and the injured woman was his wife.
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