Colonel Damir Davydov killed in Balashikha car bomb

Russian Colonel Damir Davydov, deputy head of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, was killed on June 9 when an explosive device detonated inside his BMW in Balashikha, near Moscow. Mediazona confirmed his death through state registries; the date of death matched the day of the explosion. Davydov was responsible for supplying missiles and ammunition to Russian forces in Ukraine and is considered by Ukraine to have participated in war crimes. A second car explosion occurred the same day in Moscow's Konkovo district, with security forces claiming they destroyed a 'suspicious object' and no injuries reported. The killing follows a similar assassination in the same Balashikha area in April 2025, when Deputy Head of the Main Operational Directorate Yaroslav Moskalik was also killed by a car bomb.