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Pro-Russia paramilitary leader killed in Moscow blast
The leader of a pro-Russian paramilitary group in eastern Ukraine has died in hospital after being injured in an explosion in Moscow on Monday morning, Russian media have said.
Armen Sargsyan, the leader of the “Arbat” battalion, was severely injured following a blast in the entrance hall of a residential building in north-west Moscow, 12km (7 miles) from the Kremlin.
He was evacuated to a hospital by helicopter and placed in intensive care after the explosion, but eventually succumbed to his injuries, according to usually reliable Telegram sources.
Others – including one of Armen Sargsyan’s bodyguards – were also reportedly seriously injured, with some sources saying one other person had died.
Ukraine has not yet commented on the blast.
In December, the Ukrainian security service SBU said “crime boss” Mr Sargsyan was a suspect in “recruiting prisoners to fight in Ukraine” and added that he had been on an international wanted list since May 2014 for his involvement in murders carried out in the centre of Kyiv.
The SBU added that Mr Sargsyan was part of the inner circle of fugitive former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
“The assassination attempt on Sarkisyan was carefully planned and was ordered. Investigators are currently identifying those who ordered the crime,” TASS quoted a law enforcement official as saying.
Images shared on social media show rubble and plaster strewn across a heavily damaged entrance hall with blown-out windows and doorways.
Olga Voronova, a 36-year-old mother of three who lived in the building next door to the explosion, told AFP news agency that she was “very scared” and did not understand how the blast could’ve happened.
“We have quite serious security guards, they ask every car at the checkpoints, we order passes for guests, even for family members,” she said.
Mr Sargsyan was born in Horlivka, a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region which has been occupied by Russia since 2014.
In a Telegram post confirming his death, the town’s mayor, Ivan Prikhodko, said Mr Sargsyan’s “most significant achievement was the creation and leadership of a separate special forces battalion”.
Mr Prikhodko said Mr Sargsyan was also the head of the Boxing Federation of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
The “Arbat” battalion has been known to operate in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops are still present after they launched a surprise offensive in August.
There have been a number of attacks on high profile supporters of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Moscow and in occupied areas.
Senior Russian naval officer Valery Trankovsky and Russian prison boss Sergei Yevsyukov died after car bombs exploded in Russian-occupied Ukraine in late 2024.
And in December, a high-ranking general in the Russian armed forces and his assistant were killed in Moscow by Ukraine’s security service, a Ukrainian source told the BBC.
[BBC]
The National Business Facilitation Centre (NBFC), which is being established under the Presidential Secretariat with the aim of removing administrative and regulatory barriers that exist among government institutions in relation to investment and industry and expediting these processes, will be opened tomorrow (22).
The centre is being established on the President’s initiative with the aim of bringing about a positive transformation in the industrial sector. The centre will provide solutions to issues that arise in dealing with the government machinery when starting and operating a business, while also coordinating with the relevant government institutions to provide the necessary facilities.
The “ViYASA” National Business Facilitation Centre (NBFC) has been established at Building C-80, Hector Kobbekaduwa Mawatha, Colombo 07, and is headed by Senior Additional( Secretary to the President, Seevali Arukgoda.
The centre will be opened under the patronage of Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Anil Jayantha Fernando and Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Sunil Handunnetti, with the participation of Secretary to the President Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake.
The website https://nbfc.presidentsoffice.gov.lk is also scheduled to be officially launched on the occasion.
President’s Media Division)
Latest News
Court of Appeal Judge M. Sri Mevan Anthony Edirimannasuriya Corea appointed as Acting President of the Court of Appeal
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed Court of Appeal Judge Mayadunna Sri Mevan Anthony Edirimannasuriya Corea as the Acting President of the Court of Appeal.
The appointment has been made as President’s Counsel Nalin Rohantha Abeysuriya, who currently serves as President of the Court of Appeal, will be overseas until the 24th.
Accordingly Judge Mayadunna Corea was sworn in as Acting President of the Court of Appeal before President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential secretariat this morning (21).
Secretary to the President Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake was also present at the occasion.
(President’s Media Division)
Latest News
President instructs expediting further measures concerning Sivarasa Anojan, sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia
A discussion to review the further measures that could be taken regarding Sivarasa Anojan, a young Sri Lankan national who has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia, was held at the Presidential Secretariat this afternoon (21), under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The discussion focused on the measures taken to date concerning Sivaraasa Anojan and the further diplomatic and legal steps that could be pursued. Attention was also given to expediting the necessary further measures that could be taken to secure his release.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake instructed officials to continue the necessary diplomatic engagement with the relevant authorities in Saudi Arabia and to maintain close and continuous involvement in all further measures concerning the case.
Reaffirming the Government’s continued attention to the safety and welfare of Sri Lankans living and working overseas, the President also stressed the need for the relevant ministries and institutions to work in close coordination and pursue all possible measures that could be taken in connection with the case.
Deputy Speaker Rizvie Salih, Deputy Minister of Religious and Cultural Affairs Muneer Mulaffer, Governor of the Western Province Hanif Yusoof, Secretary – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Aruni Ranaraja, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha (Retd), Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism were also present at the discussion.
(President’s Media Division)
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