A Russian general was killed Friday in a car bombing outside of Moscow, according to Russia’s top criminal investigation agency.
The Investigative Committee said that Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car in Balashikha.
The explosive device was rigged with shrapnel, Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said. The perpetrator of the blast is unclear, but the Kremlin appears to be blaming Ukraine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova described Moskalik’s killing as a “terror attack.”
The attack comes as White House envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow Friday for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Trump administration is trying to broker a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
UKRAINIAN OFFICIAL TAKES CREDIT AFTER RUSSIAN GENERAL IGOR KIRILLOV, WHO WAS KILLED BY EXPLOSIVE DEVICE IN MOSCOW
Images taken at the scene of the bombing showed a burned Volkswagen Golf car outside an apartment building in Balashikha.
“If the investigation confirms the Ukrainian trace in this case, this will once again demonstrate to the world community the barbaric and treacherous nature of the Kyiv regime, which is betting on an escalation of military confrontation with Russia and irresponsibly ignoring constructive proposals aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the conflict,” Zakharova said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed that sentiment, telling Russian state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin on Friday that Kyiv “continues its involvement in terrorist activity on our soil.”
The attack happened following the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who died on Dec. 17 in Moscow when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building exploded as he left for his office.
Russian authorities blamed Ukraine for the killing of Kirillov, and Ukraine’s security agency acknowledged that it was behind that attack.
That bombing came one day after Ukrainian Security Services charged Kirillov with crimes. The explosive in that incident had the power of roughly 300 grams of TNT, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
Kirillov was charged by Ukraine with using banned chemical weapons on the battlefield. Several countries had also placed him under sanctions for his role in the war against Ukraine, the AP reported.
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Pritchett, Anders Hagstrom, Greg Wehner and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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