A senior Russian military officer was killed by a car explosion Thursday, April 25, in the Moscow region, Russia’s Investigative Committee confirmed.
Authorities named General-lieutenant Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operational directorate of the military’s General Staff, as the victim.
The explosion occurred around 10:40 a.m. near Moskalik’s residence in Balashikha, a city just outside Moscow, according to the Baza Telegram channel. Reports say the blast knocked the general several meters away as he walked past a parked Volkswagen Golf.
Photos from the scene suggest the vehicle may have contained an improvised explosive device filled with shrapnel, designed to inflict maximum harm.
The independent investigative outlet Agentstvo, citing leaked information, reported that Moskalik lived in Balashikha. However, the Volkswagen vehicle that exploded was not registered in his name.
According to the Telegram channel Mash, the car’s last registered owner was identified as Ignat K., a native of Sumy, a city in northeastern Ukraine.
The explosion shattered windows in apartments on the lower floors of a nearby residential building, where many military personnel reportedly live. A parked car near the blast site was also damaged.
The Investigative Committee said it has opened a criminal case on charges of murder and the illegal trafficking of explosives.
Russia’s state-run news agency TASS reported that gas equipment had been installed in the car.
According to the Kremlin’s website, Moskalik served as a military representative during the 2015 Normandy format talks on Ukraine, which brought together officials from Kyiv, Moscow, Paris and Berlin amid conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists. President Vladimir Putin promoted Moskalik to the rank of lieutenant general in 2021.
Friday’s attack bore similarities to other deadly bombings that have killed Russian figures connected to Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine.
In August 2022, nationalist commentator Darya Dugina was killed in a car bombing near Moscow. In April 2023, an explosion at a St. Petersburg café killed military blogger Maxim Fomin, known as Vladlen Tatarsky.
In December, Russian chemical weapons commander Igor Kirillov was killed by a bomb planted in a scooter in Moscow. Ukrainian officials claimed responsibility for that attack - one of the boldest assassinations since the war began.
Following Kirillov’s killing, Putin publicly criticized Russia’s security services, saying, “We must not allow such very serious blunders to happen.”
Ukrainian officials have not commented on Friday’s explosion.