A top Russian military commander was killed by a car bomb near Moscow. The attack happened just hours before US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Friday, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik was killed by a car bomb in Balashikha, a city near Moscow. He served as deputy chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
According to TASS, Russian officials say Moskalik was the only person killed by the blast. Authorities believe the bomb was an IED containing submunitions and had the power of more than 300 grams of TNT.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the bombing a “terrorist attack.” “The main question is how to stop the war in the center of Europe, the world. We see so many victims every day,” she said. “Even today, a Russian [general] was killed in a terrorist attack in Moscow.”
Ukraine has conducted similar bombings in Russia during the war.
The attack came just hours before Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Russia. Friday’s talks are the fourth round of negotiations between Witkoff and the Russian president.
Trump has repeatedly stated that he wants to bring the war in Ukraine to an end. In recent days, he has called on Kiev to recognize Moscow’s control over Crimea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky firmly rejected this proposal.
On Wednesday, Trump slammed Zelensky for dismissing the idea, saying “This statement is very harmful to the Peace Negotiations with Russia in that Crimea was lost years ago under the auspices of President Barack Hussein Obama, and is not even a point of discussion,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“[Zelensky] can have Peace, or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country,” he added. “We are very close to a Deal, but the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE.”
This article was originally featured at Antiwar.com and is republished with permission.
