Russian General Yaroslav Moskalik Killed in Car Bombing Outside Moscow

On Friday, April 25, at around 10:40 a.m. Moscow time, an explosion occurred near a residential building in Balashikha, a town in the Moscow region. A parked Volkswagen vehicle blew up just as 58-year-old Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, was exiting the building.

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Police officers

The blast wave threw the high-ranking officer back toward the entrance. He sustained fatal injuries.

Preliminary reports indicate that the explosion was caused by the detonation of an improvised explosive device planted in the vehicle. Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under two articles of the Criminal Code — Article 105 ("Murder") and Article 222.1 ("Illegal trafficking of explosives").

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Career

Yaroslav Moskalik graduated from the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School in Blagoveshchensk and began his military service in 1983. From 2000 to 2012, he worked in the central apparatus of Russia's Ministry of Defense in the North Caucasus.

He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in 2021 by decree of President Vladimir Putin and had recently held a key position in the General Staff, responsible for operational troop command and the planning of military operations.

According to Russian military blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk of the "Rybar" project, Moskalik was considered one of the most competent and demanding officers in the directorate. He was reportedly seen as a candidate to head Russia's National Defense Management Center.

Role in Negotiations

In 2015, Moskalik took part in negotiations on the Ukraine conflict as part of the Normandy Formatб a diplomatic group involving Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France. That meeting, which also included Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and current Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, took place in France. That same year, Moskalik also served as a spokesperson on issues related to the Russian military operation in Syria.

Personal Life

Public information on Moskalik's personal life is limited. It is only known that he had a son. Between 2021 and 2022, the general represented his son's interests in a legal dispute with the Ministry of Defense. Notably, the dispute involved an apartment in a residential building in Balashikha — the same building near which the fatal explosion occurred.