Russia’s Investigative Committee said Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a senior Russian official with the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, was killed by an explosive device planted in his car in Balashikha, just outside Moscow.
Svetlana Petrenko, a spokesperson for the military, said the explosive device was rigged with shrapnel and that investigators had arrived at the scene.
Russian media ran videos of a vehicle burning in the courtyard of an apartment building.
The committee did not mention possible suspects, according to The Associated Press.
A screen grab from a video shows the area where senior Russian military officer Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car bomb explosion, confirmed by Russia’s Investigative Committee, on April 25.
Investigative Committee of Russia/ Getty Images
The attack follows the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who died on Dec. 17, 2024, when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building exploded as he left for his office. Kirillov’s assistant was also killed in the explosion.
The Russian authorities blamed Ukraine for the killing of Kirillov, and Ukraine’s security agency acknowledged that it was behind that attack.
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Kirillov was the chief of Russia’s Radiation, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces, the special troops charged with protecting the military from nuclear, chemical or biological attacks.
Friday’s bombing came about the same time as U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff was scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for peace talks regarding a U.S.-brokered deal to establish a ceasefire with Ukraine. The meeting will be their fourth in less than two months.
Earlier this week, President Trump blamed Volodymyr Zelenskyy for delaying the possibility of a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, arguing that the Ukrainian president could end the war if he agreed to formally hand over Crimea to Russia as part of a proposed peace deal.
His comments came after high-level talks set for Wednesday in London between U.S., European, and Ukrainian officials were downgraded when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff pulled out.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy shut down the notion of Ukraine ceding territory to Russia as part of any agreement.
“There is nothing to talk about — it is our land, the land of the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy said. He doubled down on Wednesday, telling media, “Stopping the killing is task number one.”
— With files from The Associated Press
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