A high-ranking Russian general was killed by a car bomb Friday in a suburb outside Moscow.
Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, the deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, was killed on Friday when a car laden with explosives detonated as he passed by outside his home. A video of the explosion was posted on social media.
In U.S. parlance, a lieutenant general is a three-star general, the second-highest military position outside of the rare five-star position.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova quickly cast blame on Ukrainian intelligence services.
“There are reasons to believe that Ukrainian intelligence agencies could be involved in the killing, given their ties to Yaroslav Moskalik going back to his time in the Minsk Contact Group and at the Normandy Four platform on resolving the conflict in southeastern Ukraine,” she said.
Moskalik primarily worked in military diplomacy, taking part in the formation of the Minsk agreements as part of the Normandy Format talks in 2015, alongside Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitri Peskov, and senior Russian adviser Yuri Ushakov, to end the 2014-2015 war in the Donbass. He also took part in the Astana talks to conclude the Syrian civil war.
“If the investigation confirms that Ukraine is behind this, it will again demonstrate to the international community the barbaric and treacherous nature of the Kiev regime, which chooses to escalate military confrontation with Russia and irresponsibly ignores constructive proposals aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the conflict,” Zakharova added.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the car bomb that killed Moskalik was “triggered by the detonation of an improvised explosive device containing destructive elements.” The killing is being investigated by the Main Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia.
The bombing is likely to complicate the Trump administration’s peace efforts, especially due to its timing. The killing occurred on the same day that Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, personally met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and reestablish relations between Russia and the U.S.
“This conversation allowed the Russian and U.S. positions to be further brought closer together, not only on Ukraine, but also on a number of other international issues,” Ushakov told reporters in a call.
The Trump administration has been growing increasingly frustrated with Ukraine and Russia over their inability to reach common ground to end the war, threatening to walk away from peace talks altogether if a deal can’t be reached soon.
When asked about Russian concessions on Thursday, Trump told reporters that not “taking the whole country” is a “pretty big concession,” suggesting he sees Ukraine in a far weaker negotiating position.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made waves earlier this week when he hit back against the U.S. aim of recognizing Crimea as a part of Russia, angering Trump.
“It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire — He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country,” he posted on Truth Social.
In a Time magazine interview released Friday, Trump suggested that Zelensky knew Crimea would remain part of Russia.
“Crimea will stay with Russia,” Trump said. “And Zelensky understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time. It’s been with them long before Trump came along. Again, this is Obama’s war. This is a war that should have never happened.”
Trump criticized Zelensky separately on Friday for failing to sign the rare earth minerals deal with the U.S., while expressing optimism that a peace agreement is within reach.
TRUMP SAYS ‘CRIMEA WILL STAY WITH RUSSIA’ IN PEACE DEAL
“Ukraine, headed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has not signed the final papers on the very important Rare Earths Deal with the United States. It is at least three weeks late. Hopefully, it will be signed IMMEDIATELY. Work on the overall Peace Deal between Russia and Ukraine is going smoothly. SUCCESS seems to be in the future!” he said in a post on Truth Social.
Moskalik is the latest of several prominent Russian figures to be assassinated by what is believed to be Ukrainian intelligence since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Another general, Igor Kirillov, was killed by a bomb planted near the entrance of his home in Moscow last December.
