Car Bombs in Russia Kill a Serviceman and Critically Injure Former Azarov Adviser

A car bombing in Moscow has critically injured Sergei Zavorotnyi, a former adviser to Mykola Azarov, who served as Ukraine's prime minister under President Viktor Yanukovych. A day earlier, a car bombing in St Petersburg killed a Russian military serviceman, according to Al Jazeera.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which runs criminal inquiries, said Zavorotnyi had been hospitalised with injuries. It has opened a criminal case into the Moscow explosion. The committee has not named any suspects while the inquiry continues.

Zavorotnyi is 72. He began his career as a journalist for Komsomolskaya Pravda, a Russian newspaper, before becoming Azarov's adviser. He also wrote a book about the ouster of Yanukovych and ran an online outlet critical of Ukrainian authorities.

Investigators and reports describe the same method in both attacks. Explosive devices were planted under the cars and detonated remotely while the victims were driving.

Azarov's former boss, Yanukovych, fled to Russia in February 2014, after months of protests in Ukraine that ended his presidency. Azarov's time as prime minister is part of that history, and his former advisers have since been drawn into the same orbit.

Moscow has blamed Kyiv for a series of car bombings that have targeted people involved in the fighting in Ukraine.