Suspect Accused of Bombing GRU Officer’s Car in Moscow Claims Working for SBU

Yevhen Serebryakov, who is accused of placing the under-car booby trap that seriously injured GRU officer Andrey Torgashov's car in Moscow on Wednesday, July 24, claims he was tasked by the Ukrainian security service (SBU). He claimed that his handler promised him Ukrainian citizenship and $10-20,000 for carrying out the operation.

On July 24, Serebryakov was detained in Turkey, where he had traveled just hours after the attack on Torgashov and was flown to Russia. It is believed that he was planning to travel on from Turkey to Ukraine.

According to the suspect, in February 2023, he contacted Ukrainian intelligence through a public group administrator offering to cooperate.

“I began communicating with Ilya, whom I believe to be an SBU agent. We communicated via messenger and had one meeting in Istanbul. After that, I received the components for the bomb, and Ilya suggested eliminating the officer,” Serebryakov said in a video released on YouTube by Russia’s anti-terrorist committee.

Following Ilya’s instructions, he assembled the explosive device and placed it under the car.

“Ilya promised me Ukrainian citizenship and a reward of $10,000 to $20,000,” Serebryakov said.

Kyiv Post reached out to an SBU spokesperson for comments on Ukrainian intelligence's involvement in the GRU officer's bombing in Moscow, but at the time of writing no response has been received.

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Earlier, a Moscow court issued a warrant for Serebryakov's arrest, and he will be detained following his interrogation.

Statements by the Director of Russia’s State Security Service (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov and Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said that the arrest was as the result of cooperation with Turkish Prosecutor General Muhsin Şentürk, and Turkey’s agreement to extradite persons wanted by Russian law enforcement agencies.

On the morning of Wednesday, July 24, an explosive device detonated in a Toyota Land Cruiser in a parking lot near a residential building on Sinyavinskaya Street in Moscow.

According to Irina Volk, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the official Telegram channel confirmed that the victim of the explosion was 49-year-old GRU Major Andrey Torgashov. Volk stated that the bomb exploded as he and his wife Maya were getting into the car.

The Telegram channel Astra reports that Torgashov is the deputy head of the satellite communication center of military unit 33790, stationed in the Moscow region. Baza reports that the explosion severed the soldier’s feet, and his wife sustained facial lacerations. Both were hospitalized at Botkin Hospital, with the officer in critical condition, the channel noted. According to a source in law enforcement, the attack on the major might be linked to his professional activities.

However, statements made on Wednesday afternoon cast doubt on previous claims, as both Torgashov and his wife appeared before Russian media, confirming that they were not involved and that another couple was affected. Torgashov said he "never owned a Land Cruiser" and did not even live in that area.

Sources said the injured man was another military officer – a colonel of Russia’s General Staff also called Torgashov who worked in military unit 45807, which is also connected with Russian military intelligence.