Russia’s senior military officer killed by a car bomb, says officials

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A senior Russian military officer was killed by a car bomb on Friday (April 25, 2025), Russia’s top criminal investigation agency said.

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, just outside Moscow.

The committee’s spokesperson, Svetlana Petrenko, said the explosive device was rigged with shrapnel. She said that investigators were at the scene.

Russian media ran videos of a vehicle burning in the courtyard of an apartment building. The committee didn’t mention possible suspects.

The attack follows the killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who died on December 17 when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building exploded as he left for his office. The Russian authorities blamed Ukraine for the killing of Kirillov.