Overview

• Zaur Aleksandrovich Gurtsiev, 29, died alongside another man in a southern Russia blast caused by a homemade explosive device on May 29.
• Russia’s Investigative Committee has launched forensic examinations and is considering all scenarios, including a terrorist attack linked to Ukraine.
• Gurtsiev rose through President Putin’s Time of Heroes program and led the air operation during the 2022 siege of Mariupol.
• His death follows a recent string of internal strikes, including last month’s car explosion that killed General Yaroslav Moskalik and a February bombing in Moscow that killed militia founder Armen Sarkisyan.
• The incident underscores rising domestic vulnerabilities, with conflict violence increasingly breaching Russian territory.