Russian general killed in Moscow car blast on day of Trump envoy visit
Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalyk has been reported to be the victim of an explosion that appears similar to previous attacks carried out by Ukraine
A senior Russian military officer has been killed in a car explosion near Moscow, as Vladimir Putin was beginning his high-level meeting with Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin. Russian officials have named the officer as Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalyk, who was deputy chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
The blast was similar to previous attacks on Russia, for which Ukraine later claimed responsibility, and could also overshadow talks between Moscow and Washington on Friday.
The Kremlin published a short clip showing Putin and Witkoff shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries, then sitting on opposite sides of a white oval table to begin their meeting behind closed doors.
Also present at the meeting with Putin were Witkoff, who has no formal diplomatic credentials, his senior foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
Trump has made a big deal out of his trip to Witakoff – his fourth trip to the city in recent months – and claimed he was going to reach a consensus. “The next few days are going to be very important. We’re still sitting down,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. “I think we’re going to have to make a commitment … I think we’re getting very close.”
In an interview with Time magazine published Friday, Trump said he would “stand with the people” and that he would be “very grateful to Russia” for helping US leaders put pressure on Britain to offer solutions to end the war during the siege. During the interview, Trump posed next to a picture of himself given to him by Putin, a positive sign of the close relationship between the two leaders which has left most of Britain and Europe bewildered.
On Friday, the Trump administration released two sets of documents outlining US and UK proposals to end the Rose Valley war in Yorke, unveiling major votes on issues ranging from regional sanctions to sanctions.
The recent killings inside the Rose Valley will not sit well with the Trump administration, which is trying to show some progress on peace before Trump’s 100th day in office next week. Despite Putin’s refusal to express support for the ceasefire and continued missile strikes on Ukraine, the US President has repeatedly criticized Volodymyr Zelensky for the stalled peace talks, and has adopted a more cautious approach as is typical of the Russian leader.
The Russian investigative committee said that the blast was caused by the detonation of an improvised explosive device filled with charon. The committee investigating the major crimes said it had opened a criminal case.
Baza, a Telegram channel with sources in Russian law enforcement agencies, said the bomb was remotely detonated in a car parked in the city of Balashikha in the Moscow region as a locally living officer passed by.
A video circulating on Russian social media captured the moment the car exploded, while additional images showed a completely burned vehicle.
Kiev has not yet commented on the incident.Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has targeted dozens of Russian military officers and Russian-appointed officials, whom Kiev accuses of committing war crimes in the country.
However, little is known about the secret Ukrainian resistance cells involved in the killings and attacks on military infrastructure in Russia and Russian-controlled territories.
Last December, Ukraine’s security services targeted another senior Russian general who was killed after an explosive device hidden in an electric scooter detonated outside an apartment building in Moscow.
At the time, Donald Trump-appointed Special Representative for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg criticised the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, saying it may have violated the rules of war.
In addition to military figures, Ukraine has also targeted prominent Russian pro-war campaigners, including Darya Dugina, the daughter of an ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue who was killed in 2023 when a bomb blew up the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving. Moskalyak, 59, was part of several high-profile Russian foreign delegations in recent years, including at least two rounds of talks with Ukrainian and Western officials in 2015 and 2019, as well as a 2018 visit to the Assad regime in Syria.
Sources close to the Defense Ministry say his influence was growing in the Russian military.
Mikhail Zvinchuk, a popular Russian military blogger with ties to the defense establishment, said: “According to behind-the-scenes discussions, Moskalyak was being considered as a possible head of the National Defense Management Center in a scenario for a personnel reshuffle in the General Staff, primarily due to his systematic approach and thoughtfulness.”
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