ALBAWABA - An explosion targeted a car in Sevastopol, Crimea, where a Russian navy officer was allegedly killed, TASS News agency reported, citing the city's governor Mikhail Razvozhayev.
Governor Razvozhayev announced in a post on Telegram "A fire was reported to emergency services via the hotline on Tarasa Shevchenko Street in Sevastopol. According to the caller, a car exploded and caught fire,".
He added that the emergency teams immediately removed the car driver and delivered first aid, however, he did not survive and died on the scene.
Razvozhayev acknowledged that the deceased was a military commander and stated that the explosion's cause is still being investigated, stating that "the possibility of sabotage cannot be ruled out."
Kyiv Independent reported, citing Telegram channel Baza, that the serviceman is 47-year-old Valery Trankovsky, a first-rank captain in the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Trankovsky previously served as chief of staff for a missile boat brigade active in the Ukrainian war, with its vessels delivering Kalibr missile attacks.
According to Russian media site Mash, Trankovsky had been under observation for around a week before an improvised explosive device (IED) was put beneath the driver's side of his car and reportedly detonated remotely.
