Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, a senior figure in the Russian military, was killed Friday in a suspected car bombing in the city of Balashikha, just 15 kilometres east of Moscow.
The blast, which occurred in a residential area, destroyed a Volkswagen Golf he was in, according to Russian authorities.
Moskalik served as deputy head of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian army’s General Staff. Investigators believe the explosion was caused by an explosive device possibly rigged with shrapnel. A criminal investigation has been launched, and forensic teams continue to examine the scene.
This incident comes just months after the killing of another high-ranking officer, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, who died in December when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter detonated outside his residence.
Balashikha, a city of about 500,000 people, has become the site of multiple recent high-profile attacks, raising security concerns close to the Russian capital.
