Overview

• Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the General Staff's Main Operations Directorate, was killed by a car bomb in Balashikha, near Moscow, on April 25, 2025.
• The bomb, a homemade IED filled with shrapnel, was hidden in a parked Volkswagen Golf and detonated remotely as Moskalik walked past.
• Russia's Investigative Committee has launched a criminal inquiry, with officials accusing Ukraine's security services, though Kyiv has not commented and no group has claimed responsibility.
• The assassination coincided with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff's arrival in Moscow for peace talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s administration over the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
• This attack is part of a series of targeted killings of high-ranking Russian figures since the start of the war in Ukraine, highlighting ongoing security vulnerabilities within Russian territory.