Senior Russian Military Officer Killed in Car Explosion Near Moscow

By Staff, Agencies

A senior Russian military officer was killed when a car exploded on Friday in the town of Balashikha just east of Moscow, Russia's Investigative Committee said.

It named the officer as Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, and said it had opened a criminal case into the incident.

"According to available data, the explosion occurred as a result of the detonation of a homemade explosive device filled with destructive elements," the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

The statement did not say who might be behind the incident. Several high-ranking Russian military figures have been assassinated since the start of the war in Ukraine in operations blamed by Moscow on Kiev.

Russian media outlet Baza, which has sources in Russia's law enforcement agencies, said a bomb in a parked car had been detonated remotely when the officer - who lived locally - walked past.

The Izvestia newspaper published video footage showing a person approaching a line of parked cars outside an apartment complex and an explosion that sent parts of a vehicle flying metres into the air.

Moskalik, who held the rank of major general, had participated in several high-level Russian delegations, according to defence ministry bulletins and media reports.

Moskalik represented the army's General Staff at the negotiations alongside Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, according to the Kremlin website.

Russia's RBC newspaper listed Moskalik as a participant in the security subgroup in the Minsk talks.