The blast occurred around 5:30 a.m. local time on Koldunova Street in Balashikha’s Aviatorov district. The driver, identified by some reports as 57-year-old Colonel Damir Davydov—the head of the Ministry of Defense’s Main Missile and Artillery Directorate—sustained multiple injuries and died at the scene. Other initial reports suggested the victim held the rank of lieutenant general and was 62 years old, News.Az reports, citing UA News.
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While official confirmation of the victim’s identity is pending, the Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which has close ties to Russian security services, first reported Davydov’s death. According to the Ukrainian database Myrotvorets, Davydov lived on Kozhedub Street, which intersects with the road where the explosion occurred.
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Video footage from the scene captured the moment the improvised explosive device (IED) detonated. An eyewitness told REN TV that a BMW X3 had just pulled out of a parking space and traveled a few meters when the first explosion occurred, causing it to crash into a parked vehicle.
The witness rushed to the scene with a fire extinguisher and pulled the driver from the wreckage. “He was still alive, wheezing and shouting something,” the witness reported. “I dragged him about ten meters away from the vehicle. At that moment, there was a second explosion. The car caught fire even more intensely.”
Photo: Haqqin.Az
Photo: Haqqin.Az
Photo: Haqqin.Az
The vehicle was completely incinerated by the subsequent fire, leaving fragments of the bumper and bodywork scattered meters away.
Investigators believe the IED—estimated to have an explosive yield of 300 to 500 grams of TNT—was either hidden under the driver’s seat or concealed in the rear section of the vehicle. It was likely detonated remotely or via a timer just minutes after the driver entered the car.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case into the incident.
Context: This is the second high-profile military assassination in the area in recent months. In April 2025, Russian General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the General Staff’s Main Operational Directorate, was also killed in a car bombing in Balashikha.
