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Assassinations of senior Russian generals deepen rift in security apparatus
A senior Russian general has been assassinated near Moscow for the second time in a year. According to a European intelligence source, the attacks are escalating tensions between the military and the FSB.
Second deadly blast in Balashikha
On June 9, explosives placed under a BMW in Moscow's Balashikha suburb detonated as the vehicle was leaving its parking spot. Lieutenant General Damir Davydov, responsible for missile and artillery munitions procurement at the Russian Defense Ministry, was killed in the blast.
Previous assassinations
The explosion occurred about 350 meters from the site where Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff, was killed in a car bomb attack in April 2025. Months before Moskalik's death, in December 2024, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, head of Russia's nuclear, biological and chemical protection troops, was killed by a bomb hidden in an electric scooter outside an apartment building. A source from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told Reuters the agency had carried out the operation.
Crack in the security apparatus
The attacks are seen as part of a broader campaign of assassinations and assassination attempts targeting senior Russian military figures. A European intelligence source told Fox News Digital the campaign has exposed tensions within Putin's own security system.
According to the source, the Russian military demanded that the FSB provide physical protection for generals, but the FSB resisted taking on the responsibility for protecting the military.
The disagreement stems from the historically privileged position of the security services vis-a-vis the armed forces. "This goes back to the Soviet era. The security services do not like the army, and the army does not like the security services," the source said.
15 generals killed in war
According to the independent Russian media outlet Mediazona, at least 15 Russian generals have been confirmed killed since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. These generals include Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, killed in a Storm Shadow missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Berdiansk, and Major General Sergey Goryachev, killed in fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region. Some generals died far from Moscow, close to the front line.
'The army is a bigger threat to the FSB than the Ukrainian army'
Russian opposition figure Maksim Katz told Fox News Digital that the FSB is the largest and most powerful security organization in Russia, and that Putin himself comes from that structure. "The army has always been seen as a threat by these people," Katz said.
According to Katz, the Kremlin historically fears popular military figures because the army is one of the few institutions that can challenge political power. "They have feared the army since Stalin's time. There is no such thing as a popular general in Russia," Katz stated.
Katz suggested that having generals protected by the FSB actually poses a greater risk to them. "For them, the FSB is a much bigger threat than the Ukrainian army. The Ukrainian army kills a general from time to time; the FSB sends generals to prison much faster."
Protection responsibility shifted to the Presidential Administration
The European intelligence source said that beyond the operational impact of losing generals, morale within the already low Russian military has been further eroded. As a compromise, after the FSB refused military protection, responsibility for the generals' security was reportedly transferred to the security service of the Russian Presidential Administration.
September elections and Putin's legitimacy
Katz also drew attention to the parliamentary elections in September, which he says Western observers ignore. Stating the elections will not be free and the Kremlin will manipulate the results, Katz argued that if Putin's approval rating drops significantly, the official results could lose credibility.
"Everyone already knows what results they will announce. The real question is whether anyone will believe those results," Katz said. He emphasized that Putin's legitimacy rests on the perception of broad public support, and breaking that perception would create a new and dangerous situation for the regime.
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