Russian President Vladimir Putin has lost yet another of his top-ranking military generals in a deadly car explosion in the heart of Moscow on Friday. Yaroslav Moskalik, the deputy chief of the Russian military's main operations directorate, was blown into pieces when a vehicle exploded in the town of Balashikha, according to reports from Russian media.
Law enforcement sources said that a bomb was planted in a parked car and was detonated remotely as Moskalik, who lived close to the scene of the blast, walked past. Moskalik's death comes a day after Russia launched one of the deadliest assaults on Kyiv in nearly a year, killing several and injuring hundreds.
Blown to Pieces
Chilling video footage showed a car completely engulfed in flames near an apartment complex shortly after the blast took place. Officials have yet to release an official statement about the deadly incident, which took place just a day after Russia carried out its most lethal strike on Ukraine in nearly a year.
It remains unclear whether the officer was specifically targeted.
Ukraine has previously admitted to carrying out attacks on Russian military personnel inside Russia, particularly in Moscow.
In a similar case, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the Kremlin's leading nuclear weapons official, was killed in a car bombing last December.
Ukraine later took responsibility for Kirillov's death, saying that he was targeted due to his alleged involvement in coordinating the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian forces.
Moskalik's death comes just a day after President Donald Trump slammed Putin for launching attacks on Ukraine despite ongoing efforts to broker peace between the two warring nations.
Attack Comes Day after Trump's Warning
"I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!" an infuriated Trump wrote in a Truth Social post urging the Russian dictator not to escalate tensions once again.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the air strike, the deadliest Kyiv has witnessed since last July. Zelensky called it "one of the most outrageous" assaults.
Zelensky also pointed out that for the past six weeks, Russia has consistently rejected Trump's proposed cease-fire plan. "This was a proposal from the United States," he said.
"And it has been 44 days of Russia continuing to kill our people and evading tough pressure and accountability for its actions."
Despite that, on Wednesday, Trump cast doubt on Kyiv's willingness to reach a peace deal, claiming—without providing evidence—that Moscow was "ready" to end the conflict.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that he was not sure whether a peace deal would be finalized "by the end of the week," as Trump had expected, according to the Kyiv Independent.
