Following a Venezuela-linked Vessel Reportedly Pursued by American Maritime Authorities

Kumar Malhotra

Source

We are verifying video footage and photographs posted this morning that show the aftermath of a reported vehicle-borne explosive explosion that authorities in Russia say killed a high-ranking military officer in Moscow.

Russian authorities confirmed that Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov was inside the vehicle that exploded and that he succumbed to his injuries. A probe is currently ongoing.

The initial step to check the site from which the images were from relied on posts saying the explosion happened on Yasenevaya Street in the southern part of the capital city of Russia.

Our analysis employed street-view imagery on Google Maps and the Russian search engine Yandex to corroborate the distinctive yellow colour of a nearby residential complex captured in the video.

Locating other structures, streetlights and the road configuration confirmed the exact location the footage were taken.

We also checked that the videos were new and that the visuals had not undergone manipulated.