A retired Russian commander who led airstrikes on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol died in a blast early Thursday in Stavropol in southern Russia, authorities said.

Zaur Gurtsiev, 34, received several medals for participating in Russia's grueling assaults on the cities of Mariupol and Avdiivka.

Authorities did not say what caused the explosion, but also did not rule out that Ukraine was responsible. Videos posted by Russian Telegram channels showed two men, one of them Gurtsiev, standing together in a residential neighborhood before a blast.

A string of high-profile Russian servicemen have been killed in Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.

In December, the head of the Russian military's biological and chemical weapons unit, Lt. General Igor Kirillov, was killed along with his deputy in an explosion in Moscow, Russia's Investigative Committee said at the time. More recently, in April, an explosive device in Moscow killed a senior Russian general, General-Lieutenant Yaroslav Moskalik, the deputy head of the main operational directorate of the military's general staff, according to Russia's investigative committee.

Kyiv has in some cases claimed responsibility or reveled in the attacks, calling them "legitimate targets" given Moscow's three-year offensive has killed tens of thousands. Ukrainian security forces told CBS News after Kirillov's death that Security Service of Ukraine killed him in a special operation, a claim that could not be independently verified but sparked Russian calls for revenge against Ukrainian leaders.

"Our hero, veteran of the special military operation and participant in the Time of Heroes programme, Zaur Alexandrovich Gurtsiev, has died," said Stavropol region governor Vladimir Vladimirov, using Russia's term for its Ukraine offensive.

"All versions are being considered, including the organisation of a terrorist attack involving Nazis from Ukraine," he added, echoing the Kremlin's claim that it is fighting neo-Nazis in Ukraine.

The veteran's 29-year-old acquaintance died alongside him, Stavropol law enforcement said.

The Time of Heroes is the Kremlin's programme aimed to boost the careers of veterans stringently chosen to become part of Russia's future elite.

Gurtsiev was serving as Stavropol's deputy mayor.

He had commanded Moscow's air assault on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, a bustling Black Sea city devastated by Russian airstrikes.

Russian forces rolled into Mariupol at the beginning of 2022 and imposed a brutal siege for nearly three months that resulted in 8,000 deaths, according to Human Rights Watch.

The siege included a deadly airstrike on a theatre where civilians were hiding.

Ukraine does not typically comment on clandestine operations on the enemy's territory.

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