A car exploded on the morning of 1 December in the courtyard of a residential building on Raduzhnaya Street in New Moscow, Moskovsky Komsomolets reported. According to Baza, the incident took place near the “Grad Moskovsky” residential complex. The explosion shattered windows in several apartments, and the vehicle itself burst into intense flames. Emergency Ministry firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze, but the Land Cruiser 200 Prado was completely destroyed. According to MK, there was no one inside the car at the moment of the explosion, and no passersby or residents were injured. The cause of the explosion is being clarified. Initial reports suggested that it was triggered by remote engine warm-up.
Local residents said the car belonged to a man who had recently moved into the building. According to “112,” the owner is a 41-year-old Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, a quantum electronics specialist from the Moscow research institute “Polyus” named after Stelmakh. He is currently on a business trip in one of the Southeast Asian countries. The Polyus institute is part of the Shvabe holding of the state corporation Rostec. It develops laser rangefinders, target designators for precision weapons — including missiles — as well as laser gyroscopes for aircraft navigation systems. The institute is under U.S. and EU sanctions due to the war in Ukraine.
Earlier, in July, a car carrying veterans of Russian security services exploded in central Moscow, in Staropimenovsky Lane. In early June, three cars were reported “mined” in a single day in the capital — all in the western part of the city and close to one another. However, specialists who arrived at the scenes found no explosive devices.
In April, in the Aviatorov district of Balashikha near Moscow, a car belonging to Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff, exploded near a residential building. The officer was killed in the blast. The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into murder and illegal trafficking of explosives (Articles 105 and 222.1 of the Criminal Code).
