Car explosion in Moscow kills Russian general Yaroslav Moskalik

A high-ranking Russian military official died Friday after an explosive device ripped through a parked car near his home in a Moscow suburb, according to Russian authorities who have launched a murder investigation.

Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operational Directorate of Russia’s General Staff, was killed when a Volkswagen Golf detonated outside a residential building at 2 Nesterova Boulevard in Balashikha, a city in Moscow Oblast.

The Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes in Russia, said it had opened an investigation into murder and smuggling explosives. Investigators revealed the “blast was caused by the triggering of an improvised explosive device” packed with metal fragments designed to cause maximum harm.

Security camera footage published by Izvestia newspaper captured the moment of the massive explosion, showing fragments flying into the air. The blast reportedly occurred just as someone could be seen walking toward the car.

The exploding vehicle was reportedly parked near Moskalik’s residence, though according to the Agentstvo investigative news site, which cited leaked information, Moskalik owned a Skoda Kodiaq, not the Volkswagen that exploded.

Images shared on social media showed the aftermath, with a gutted car engulfed in flames and debris scattered across the area.

Yaroslav Moskalik’s focus on Syria

Moskalik had a significant military career. According to the Kremlin website, he served as a Russian military representative at the “Normandy format” talks on Ukraine in 2015, amid the conflict between Kyiv and Russian-backed separatists. He was promoted to lieutenant general by President Vladimir Putin in 2021.

The general had also previously overseen Russian phosphate shipments from Syria in 2018 and spoke at the 2021 Moscow Conference on International Security, addressing Russia’s operations in Syria and broader Middle East issues.

The attack bears similarities to previous assassinations targeting Russians linked to Moscow’s military operations in Ukraine. These include the August 2022 car bombing of nationalist Darya Dugina and an explosion in a Saint Petersburg cafe in April 2023 that killed high-profile military correspondent Maxim Fomin, known as Vladlen Tatarsky.

In December, Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian military’s chemical weapons unit, was killed by a bomb planted in a scooter in Moscow, in what was described as the boldest assassination claimed by Kyiv since the start of the conflict.

After Kirillov’s killing, Putin made a rare admission of failings by his powerful security agencies, saying: “We must not allow such very serious blunders to happen.”