// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Aide to fugitive Ukrainian ex-PM wounded in latest Moscow car bombing
The site of a car explosion that wounded Sergei Zavorotny in Moscow
A car bomb attack in Moscow has wounded a former adviser to Ukrainian ex-prime minister Mykola Azarov, Russia's Investigative Committee says.
Sergei Zavorotny, now a journalist and commentator, was behind the wheel of his black Toyota when the explosion happened and Azarov told Russian TV his condition in hospital was "rather critical".
The car bomb went off a day after a Russian colonel was killed in another explosion in St Petersburg, and both blasts are seen as part of a series of attacks on military and prominent figures linked to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Zavorotny, 72, worked as a press aide to Mykola Azarov in Kyiv until 2014.
But when pro-Kremlin Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was toppled from power, Azarov fled Kyiv for Russia and tried unsuccessfully to set up a government in exile.
In a 2020 US Senate report on interference in the 2016 American presidential election, Zavorotny is described at the time as an SVR [Russian foreign intelligence] officer involved in influence operations.
Russia's Investigative Committee said on Telegram on Friday: "Serhiy Zavorotny, a former adviser to the former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, was injured while driving a car. He was taken to one of the city hospitals, where he is receiving medical care."
It added: "A set of necessary investigative actions is being carried out. A number of examinations will be appointed, including medical and explosives."
According to several unconfirmed reports, Zavorotny suffered a number of serious injuries after an explosive device was detonated remotely.