Underground agent who planted explosives for Russian colonel, left for Ukraine via Turkey and Moldova
The suspect in the bombing of the Russian serviceman had been watching him for about a month, having taken a job at a nearby hypermarket. He attached the explosive device under the car at night, and had already flown out of Russia before the explosion, according to "Fontanka".
"Fontanka" published details of the car bombing in St. Petersburg's Shushary.
According to the publication, the bomb was planted by a 31-year-old resident of St. Petersburg. He had been observing the colonel for about a month.
The man got a job as a general laborer at the "Lenta" hypermarket on Kolpinskoye Highway. He observed when the serviceman returned home, where he parked his car, and at what time he left for duty.
According to a source from "Fontanka", the improvised explosive device was transported to the Leningrad region by hot air balloon from the Baltic countries. There is no confirmation of this version.
After landing, someone picked up the cargo and moved the bomb to another hiding place for the perpetrator. The latter, according to the publication, attached the device under the car's undercarriage around one in the morning. By 2:43 AM, he had flown from Pulkovo to Istanbul. The plane landed at 6:05 AM, after which the suspect headed to Chisinau. The explosion occurred at seven in the morning.
Conflicting reports emerged about who died in the explosion. The publication 78.ru wrote that Dmitry Labodin, chief navigator of the 6th Air Force and Air Defense Army of Russia, might have died, but later deleted this information.
Ukrainian channels named two more alleged casualties: Andrey Khadykin, deputy commander of the 6th Army for military-political work, and Viktor Poznyakov, deputy commander for aviation.