A senior Russian general has been killed in an explosion in Moscow, a spokesperson for the Investigative Committee of Russia confirmed on April 25.
According to Russian state media, a car exploded in the yard of a residential building in the Russian city of Balashikha, Moscow Oblast, killing one person.
The Investigative Committee of Russia later identified the deceased as Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy chief of the main operations directorate of Russia’s army.
"According to available data, the explosion occurred as a result of the detonation of a homemade explosive device," it added.
A criminal case has been opened.
The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the reports. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
The incident took place as U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow earlier in the day to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
There is limited publicly available information about Moskalik. He was listed as a member of the Russian delegation during the 2015 Normandy Format talks, set up to find a resolution to Russia's war in eastern Ukraine.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that Moskalik was also involved in the high-level Normandy Four meeting in 2019, as well as in talks with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad a year earlier, who has since been ousted.
While Ukraine has not been officially linked to the recent car bombing, Kyiv has previously targeted Russian officials who play a key role in Russia's full-scale invasion.
Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian Armed Forces' radiation, chemical, and biological defense troops, was killed in an explosion at a residence in Moscow in December 2024, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine told the Kyiv Independent.
Mikhail Shatsky, a Russian expert involved in modernizing missiles launched against Ukraine, was shot dead near Moscow on Dec. 12, a Defense Forces source told the Kyiv Independent.
Aleksey Kolomeitsev, a Russian colonel who trained specialists in the use of attack drones, was killed in the city of Kolomna in Moscow Oblast, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) reported on Sept. 28.
Kateryna Denisova
(Updated: )
