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Emma Pengelly

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We are checking video footage and photographs shared earlier today that depict the scene of a reported car bomb explosion that Russian officials say fatally injured a senior military officer in Moscow.

Officials in Russia confirmed that Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov was inside the car that exploded and that he succumbed to his injuries. An investigation is currently ongoing.

The initial step to verify the location from which the images were from was based on posts saying the blast occurred on Yasenevaya Street in the southern district of the Russian capital.

Our analysis employed street-view imagery on digital map platforms and the local mapping service Yandex Maps to corroborate the unique yellow colour of a adjacent apartment building seen in the video.

Identifying additional buildings, streetlights and the road configuration verified where the pictures were taken.

We also checked that the videos were new and that the images had not been digital alteration.