A senior Russian navy commander was killed on Friday in a automobile explosion in a suburb of Moscow, investigators stated, the newest in a collection of fatalities amongst Ukraine’s opponents inside Russia.
The Investigative Committee of Russia, the nation’s equal to the F.B.I., issued a press release identifying the officer as Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a senior determine within the Russian Basic Workers who was straight concerned in planning operations. The investigators stated that they’d opened a prison inquiry into the explosion, which occurred within the city of Balashikha, a suburb east of Moscow.
The explosion got here as Russian state information companies reported that Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s particular envoy, was in all probability in Moscow. Mr. Witkoff was anticipated to conduct one other spherical of high-profile negotiations with President Vladimir V. Putin over ending the battle in Ukraine and re-establishing the bilateral relationship between Russia and america. Mr. Putin has cast aside Mr. Trump’s calls for a fast peace in Ukraine, and Russia’s airstrikes on civilian targets look like rising.
Video circulating on social media and verified by The New York Occasions confirmed a automobile exploding and catching fireplace exterior an condo block, sending a thick plume of smoke into the air. Different footage verified by The Occasions confirmed individuals speeding to the scene as secondary explosions echoed within the distance.
The Ukrainian authorities had no speedy remark when contacted concerning the killing.
In February, a outstanding pro-Russia separatist determine from Ukraine, Armen Sarkisyan, was killed when a bomb exploded inside a gated residence in Moscow. Ukrainian officers didn’t touch upon the blast on the time.
On the finish of December, a basic in control of the Russian navy’s nuclear and chemical weapons safety forces, Igor Kirillov, was killed by a bomb close to the entry to a residential constructing in Moscow. An official with Ukraine’s safety service, generally known as the S.B.U., stated on the time that Ukraine was accountable for the killing.
Maria Varenikova and Sanjana Varghese contributed reporting.
