Russian publication Fontanka has published a photograph of the suspected perpetrator in the killing of an unnamed Russian army colonel, who died in a car explosion in St. Petersburg early this morning. According to the outlet, an improvised explosive device was planted under the vehicle by a 31-year-old native of Pskov named Yan, who had lived in St. Petersburg for the past several years. The outlet 47news identified the suspect’s last name as “Bashkirev.”
Fontanka reported that about a month ago, Yan took a job as a general laborer at a Lenta supermarket on Kolpinskoye Highway, where the late colonel regularly parked his car. Investigators believe that Yan monitored the 51-year-old officer in order to establish his daily routine and determine the best time to plant the bomb. The explosive was later detonated remotely.
According to investigators, Yan attached the explosive device to the underside of the officer’s car at 1 a.m. Moscow time on Nov. 12, then took a taxi to Pulkovo Airport and flew to Turkey. He landed in Istanbul at 6:05 a.m. and immediately traveled on to Chisinau, Moldova. As previously reported, the explosion on Kolpinskoye Highway near the Lenta hypermarket occurred at around 7 a.m. The officer, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, died at the scene.
Fontanka and 47news also reported that the explosives used in the attack were transported into Russia’s Leningrad Region from one of the Baltic states by balloon. Near the border, an unidentified person allegedly retrieved the package and hid it in a dead drop — a concealed location used to pass items without a face-to-face meeting. Yan later collected the bomb from the cache, according to the reports.
