Founder of Arbat battalion of special forces killed in bomb blast at Moscow elite residential complex

On Monday morning, February 3, an explosion occurred in the elite Alye Parusa (Scarlet Sails) residential complex in northwestern Moscow. An improvised explosive device or grenade exploded at Building No. 77 on Aviatsionnaya Street.

It is believed that the explosion was conducted to assassinate Armen Sarkisyan, the founder of the Arbat special forces battalion, president of the Donetsk People's Republic Boxing Federation.

However, according to most recent reports, Armen Sarkisyan survived clinical death. He was connected to a ventilator – the man suffered severe wounds to his head and chest. He lost his left foot in the explosion, Mash Telegram channel said.

Armen Sarkisyan later died without regaining consciousness. 

A remotely detonated explosive device was set off in the building lobby. The bomb may have been planted under the ceiling. The explosion occurred at the moment when people, including a woman, were walking through the hall towards the exit. The blast damaged the ceiling in the hall on the first floor of the building.

"It is clear that the explosion was premeditated. Law enforcers currently reviewing security camera footage," the source added.

Sarkisyan was reportedly renting an apartment in the residential complex.

One of Sarkisyan's bodyguards was killed in the explosion, according to The Kommersant. A total of four people were injured, including other bodyguards and a concierge.

The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case, and the Moscow prosecutor's office has taken control of the investigation.

Sarkisyan previously stated that he moved from Armenia to Ukraine as a youth, settling in Horlivka (a city north of Donetsk that came under DPR control in 2014 and was officially annexed by Russia in the fall of 2022), where he lived "his entire conscious life."

In 2022, he established the Arbat Battalion, also known as the Armenian Battalion, which is part of the international brigade Pyatnashka.

"The Armenian battalion existed before, but only as a detachment. We realized that it should not remain isolated. The Armenian battalion should be well-known," brigade commander Akhra Avidzba once stated. In the summer of 2023, Arbat signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, and its commander became Hayk Gasparyan, a former fighter of the Wagner PMC.

In September 2024, Armenia's Investigative Committee accused the battalion of recruiting Armenian citizens for the purpose of preparing a coup in the country. Arbat dismissed the allegations as propaganda against Russia.

Since 2014, Sarkisyan had been wanted in Ukraine on charges of involvement in organizing murders in central Kyiv, according to Ukraine's Security Service (SBU). The agency described him as a close associate of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

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Moscow the capital and largest city of Russia, is home to 12,719 completed high-rises, 40 of which stand taller than 183 metres (600 ft). The tallest building in the city is the 101-story East Tower of the Federation Tower complex, which rises 373.7 metres (1,226 ft) in the Moscow International Business Center (MIBC) and was completed in 2016. The Federation Tower was the tallest building in Europe upon its completion, and remained the tallest building until 5 October 2017 when it was surpassed by the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The second, third, and fourth-tallest buildings in Moscow are the South Tower of OKO, Neva Towers 2, and the Mercury City Tower, respectively, with OKO and Mercury City Tower also held the position of the tallest building in Europe. As of December 2024, Moscow had 108 buildings at least 150 metres (492 ft) tall.