An unidentified assailant detonated an explosive device next to a patrol vehicle in Moscow on Tuesday, killing himself and a police officer in an apparent suicide bombing, according to The Associated Press. 

The outlet noted that, according to officials, the explosion also left two other officers injured.

The attack happened just after midnight on Tuesday near the Savyolovsky railway station in downtown Moscow, according to the AP, which cited Moscow’s branch of the Interior Ministry. 

The AP also reported that Russia’s top investigative agency said the assailant was a 22-year-old man from Russia’s Udmurt Republic and that there was an ongoing probe regarding the motive behind the attack.

Police and emergency services are seen at the scene of an attack on a police patrol near the Savyolovsky Railway Station, in Moscow, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo)

The attacker reportedly approached traffic police officers who were sitting in a patrol vehicle, The Moscow Times reported. The outlet noted, citing Russian state media agency TASS, that the targeted patrol car was heavily damaged but did not catch fire as a result of the attack.

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A police officer and an unidentified assailant were killed in an apparent suicide bombing in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026.  (AP Photo)

Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly said at a meeting with top officials from Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, that the young man was recruited online and was unknowingly given an explosive device that was then detonated remotely, according to the AP.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are shown in a side-by-side photo illustration as discussions continue over the future of Ukraine and a potential settlement to the war. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP; Christian Bruna/Getty)

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The attack came just as Russia marked the fourth anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine. While the Trump administration has worked to broker a peace deal between the two sides, Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have yet to reach an agreement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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