Report: Car Bomb Kills Russia's Ammunition Chief

A deadly blast on a street in a Moscow suburb reportedly killed a senior figure in Russia's war machine. Russian investigators say a car exploded early Tuesday in Balashikha, killing the driver; they have not publicly named him. But multiple Russian and Ukrainian outlets, plus a senior Ukrainian official, identified the victim as Col. Damir Davydov, head of the supply arm of Russia's Main Missile and Artillery Directorate, the New York Times reports. The 57-year-old was responsible for overseeing the distribution of weapons to Russia's armed forces, reports the Guardian.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, when asked about the blast, said Vladimir Putin has been briefed. "As you understand, information related to the ongoing investigation cannot be disclosed," he said. The attack fits a pattern: Ukrainian special services are widely believed to be behind a series of assassinations of senior Russian military officials inside Russia, the Times reports. Last year, a car bomb killed a Russian general less than a mile away from the site of Tuesday's blast. According to Russian media, an attempt to kill an employee of a scientific-industrial enterprise with another car bomb was thwarted on Tuesday, the Guardian reports. Two teenagers who were allegedly acting on the instructions of Ukrainian handlers were arrested.