A car bomb attack in Moscow has murdered a top Russian general, officials confirmed.
Russia’s Investigative Committee (SK), the primary federal investigating agency in Russia, confirmed that an improvised explosive device packed with pellets detonated, killing Gen Yaroslav Moskalik when a Volkswagen Golf blew up.
Local news outlets reported that the vehicle was parked beside the general’s residence in the eastern suburb of Balashikha and exploded as he passed by.
Killing Labeled a “Terrorist Attack” by Russian Authorities
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the killing as a “terrorist attack.” Without providing further details. According to Russian Telegram channel Smotri.
Moskalik was the Russian General Staff representative at negotiations with Ukraine in Paris during 2015. That yielded the Minsk agreements, established to stop the conflict between Russian-supported separatist groups and Ukraine, which began in 2014.
Ties to Russian Diplomatic Delegation
The Kremlin site indicates he traveled to join Russia’s delegation of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kremlin advisor and ex-Russian ambassador to the US, Yuri Ushakov, for those cease-fire negotiations.
Videos and photographs doing the rounds on Telegram today reveal a burning car outside an apartment block. No group has yet taken responsibility for the car bomb.
Ukraine Maintains Silence on Targeted Assassinations in Moscow
It is a policy of Ukraine not to officially acknowledge or take responsibility for such targeted attacks as that which murdered Gen Moskalik.
But unidentified sources in Ukrainian security agencies have in the past informed the media, including the BBC, that they have been responsible for similar murders, including the assassination of Gen Igor Kirillov in December 2024. Identified officials, however, never spoke on the record.
Inside Russia itself, there seems no agency willing and capable of conducting such attacks.
Telegram Media Circulates Visuals of Attack in Moscow
Telegram screengrab from a telegram video giving a distant view of a burning car with a big plume of black smoke near a block of flats in Moscow. Images and videos appearing on Telegram show a car alight outside a block of flats.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in central Moscow later on Friday.
Overnight Drone Strikes Continue Across Ukraine
Drone strikes against Ukraine persisted overnight into Friday, Ukraine’s air force reported Russia fired 103 drones, killing three individuals, including a child and a 76-year-old woman, in the town of Pavlohrad, in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region.
Lavrov previously announced Moscow was “prepared to come to an agreement” with the US to end the war in Ukraine, though certain elements required to be “tweaked.”.
At the same time, in Ukraine, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said his nation might need to cede land as part of any settlement.
