On the morning of 13 November, a Toyota vehicle exploded in southern Moscow, in the Chertanovo district. The incident injured Serhii Zavorotnyi, a former adviser to Ukraine’s ex-Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.
This was reported by Radio Liberty. Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed the identity of the injured man and said a criminal case had been opened.
According to Russian media, an explosive device with a yield of about 300 grams in TNT equivalent detonated under the SUV’s underbody. Preliminary reports say the vehicle travelled about 200 metres before the explosion occurred.
Telegram channels SHOT and Baza previously reported that the Toyota is registered to 72-year-old Serhii Zavorotnyi. He is a candidate of historical sciences and a political scientist who previously worked in the apparatus of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
Zavorotnyi was the spokesman for Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, who has been living in Russia since fleeing the country. Zavorotnyi is also a co-author of the book "Yanukovych Gave Up, the State Department Accepted: How Russia Lost Ukraine", published in 2018.
Russian media also drew attention to the fact that US intelligence considers Zavorotnyi an officer of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service. A report by the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Russian interference in the 2016 US election states that Zavorotnyi was identified as a serviceman of military unit 33949, which belongs to the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation.
- In December 2025, the Pechersk District Court in Kyiv delivered a verdict against former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, finding him guilty of high treason and attempts to violently overthrow the constitutional order