Blast kills pro-Russian force leader in Moscow

Moscow: An explosion rocked upscale residential block in Moscow early Monday, killing two people - including the founder of a battalion that battled Kyiv’s forces in eastern Ukraine - and injuring three others, Russian authorities and news reports said.

Footage released by Russia’s Investigative Committee showed a building lobby with shattered glass doors and a damaged ceiling. It didn’t say what caused the blast, but the state news agency Tass cited an unidentified law enforcement source as saying a bomb was planted in the building.

The Investigative Committee said it opened a criminal inquiry on charges of murder by means injurious to the public, attempted murder of two or more people and arms trafficking. Tass and the RIA Novosti news agency, both citing a law enforcement source, identified one of the dead as Armen Sarkisyan. Agencies