A high-ranking Russian military official was killed Friday in an explosion in a suburb of Moscow, in what authorities are treating as a case of murder. The incident coincides with the arrival of President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow for high-stakes talks with President Vladimir Putin.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, it’s top policing body, has launched a criminal investigation into the death of Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, who was killed when a vehicle rigged with an improvised explosive device detonated. Surveillance footage published from the scene suggested Moskalik was walking past the car at the time of the explosion.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called it a “terrorist attack.”
Moskalik took part in the 2015 negotiations following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, part of the Normandy Format diplomatic effort that involved Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, according to a list of participants posted on the Kremlin website. He was also a member of the Russian delegation during the final round of talks in this format in 2019, which included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Russian media.
Russian military bloggers who support the 2022 invasion of Ukraine have reacted strongly to Moskalik’s death. The influential Rybar channel described him as “one of the most intelligent and demanding officers in the Main Directorate of the General Staff — not well-liked, because he demanded results and was relentlessly tough on his subordinates.”
Rybar described it as an assassination and compared it to the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of the Radiation, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces, in December. “Given the high-profile nature of the target and the method of execution, there is little doubt Ukrainian special services were involved,” it said.
The Investigative Committee at the time said Kirillov was killed by a remotely detonated explosive planted in a scooter parked outside a residential complex in Moscow. Ukraine did not claim responsibility for the attack, but anonymous officials in the intelligence service described him as a “legitimate target.”
Witkoff is meeting Putin for the fourth time as peace talks have reached a critical juncture. Trump claimed Wednesday that Russia was ready for a deal, but that Zelensky was proving difficult.
Ukraine accepted a U.S. proposal for a full ceasefire in March, but Russia has not. The White House has since proposed increasingly generous terms for Russia, including U.S. recognition of Russian sovereignty in the strategic Crimean Peninsula, which was invaded and illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. Zelensky has demanded a ceasefire before he will talk about concessions.
