A Russian general has been killed by a car bomb near Moscow, the country’s top criminal investigation agency says.
The death of Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik is the second such fatal attack on a top Russian military officer in four months.
The investigative committee said he was killed by an explosive device placed in his car in Balashikha, just outside the capital.
He was a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces.
Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said the explosive device was rigged with shrapnel, adding that investigators were at the scene.
Videos published by Russian media outlets showed a vehicle burning in the courtyard of an apartment building.
The committee did not mention potential suspects.
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It comes after Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was killed in December when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building exploded as he left for his office.
The Russian authorities blamed Ukraine for the killing of Kirillov, and Ukraine’s security agency acknowledged that it was behind that attack.
Moscow correspondent
Explosions like this are happening with increasing frequency in Moscow. There have now been four since last summer, with high-ranking military figures the target each time.
The latest victim was another senior officer called Yaroslav Moskalik. He was a lieutenant general, and deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces.
It’s unclear why he was targeted – it may simply be because of his seniority and apparent vulnerability.
As with previous the bombings, there is an obvious question: is it because of the war in Ukraine?
Kyiv hasn’t commented on this bombing, but they did claim responsibility for the one in December that killed a top Russian general.
Speaking to Sky News, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called it a “terrorist attack”, echoing language Moscow has used when describing similar attacks in the past.
The timing feels significant – coinciding with Steve Witkoff’s visit to the Russian capital to meet Vladimir Putin.
If it was Ukraine, could it be a way of signalling their displeasure at the way peace talks are progressing? Or an attempt to demonstrate how Moscow can still be hurt?
Either way, it’s not a great look for the Kremlin.
Kirillov was the chief of Russia’s radiation, biological and chemical protection forces, the special troops tasked with protecting the military from the enemy’s use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and ensuring operations in a contaminated environment.
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His assistant also died in the attack.
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Friday’s bombing came as US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a US-brokered peace plan for Ukraine.
The meeting is their fourth encounter since February.
