Senior Russian General Killed in Moscow

The incident took place as Washington is trying to negotiate an end to the Russia–Ukraine war.

Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian rescuers operate at the site of a Russian missile attack in Kyiv early on April 24, 2025. Stringer/AFP via Getty Images

A car explosion near Moscow killed a key Russian military official, the Investigative Committee of Russia announced in an April 25 statement.

The incident, which took place on Friday, involved the explosion of a Volkswagen Golf car on Nesterov Street in Balashikha city, killing Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, 59. He served as the deputy chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. He has represented the country’s defense ministry in several negotiations.

“According to available data, the explosion occurred as a result of the detonation of a homemade explosive device filled with striking elements,” the committee said, according to an English translation of the statement.

“The investigative task force, which included investigators, forensic experts, experts, and employees of operational units of law enforcement agencies, began examining the scene of the incident.”

Moskalik was the sole victim killed in the explosion, Russian state-backed media TASS reported on Friday.

The investigative committee has opened a criminal case over the murder and illegal trafficking of explosives.

Citing emergency response officials, TASS said the device that set off the explosion had the power of more than 300 grams of TNT.

Moskalik is one of the latest key Russian military officials to die in an explosion. Another top Russian official, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, was killed in an explosion in December last year after a bomb was hidden in a scooter parked near an apartment block in Moscow. Kirillov’s assistant also died in the incident.

Kirillov was the head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces. His death occurred a day after he was sentenced by a Ukrainian court over Russia’s alleged use of banned chemical weapons amid the Russia–Ukraine conflict.

The Trump administration is urging Russia to end its war on Ukraine, which started in February 2022.

“I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!” Trump wrote in an April 24 post on Truth Social after Moscow pounded Kyiv with missiles and drone attacks on Thursday.

At least nine individuals were killed and more than 70 injured in the recent attack on Kyiv, according to the Ukrainian government. This was the largest attack on the country’s capital city since July last year.

Earlier on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance said that the United States would abandon talks to resolve the conflict if the two nations reject a proposal by Washington to end the war.

“We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes, or for the United States to walk away from this process,” he told reporters in India during a state visit.

The White House has “engaged in an extraordinary amount of diplomacy, of on-the-ground work,” he said.

“We’ve really tried to understand things from the perspective of both the Ukrainians and the Russians. What do Ukrainians care the most about? What do the Russians care the most about? And I think that we’ve put together a very fair proposal,” he said.