Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik is named as an explosion victim that looks like previous attacks claimed by Ukraine
A Russian military officer died in a car explosion near Moscow, while Vladimir Putin was with Donald Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff for high -risk peace negotiations.
Russian authorities identified the officer as Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy chief of the main board of operations of the Russian Armed Forces.
The explosion seemed to be similar to previous attacks on Russians who were later claimed by Ukraine and can launch a shadow on Friday’s negotiations between Moscow and Washington.
Kremlin published a brief video showing Putin and Witkoff by squeezing his hands and changing greetings at Kremlin before sitting on opposite sides of a white oval table to start the meeting at closed doors. Putin was accompanied at the meeting with Witkoff, who has no formal diplomatic credentials, by his senior foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, and by the envoy of investments Kirill Dmitiev. A few hours later, Witkoff’s car was seen leaving the Kremlin.
Trump has emphasized Witkoff’s visit – his fourth to Russia in recent months – stating that a peace agreement is near. “The next few days will be very important. Meetings are happening now,” Trump told reporters on Thursday. “I think we’re going to close a deal … I think we’re getting very close.”
A day later, Trump admitted that peace negotiations were “very fragile” and said there was no deadline for peace to be reached.
In an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, Trump also said that “Crimea will be with Russia,” the most recent example of the US leader pressing Ukraine to end the war while she remains under siege. During the interview, Trump posed next to his portrait that would have been given to him by Putin, a symbolic nod to narrow ties between the two leaders, who have left Ukraine and much of Europe nervous.
Reuters published two sets of documents on Friday describing the US and Ukraine proposals to end the Russian War in Ukraine, revealing significant differences in issues ranging from territorial concessions to sanctions.
The latest apparent murder of a Ukrainian in Russian territory will hardly appeal to the Trump government, which is desperate to show tangible progress in peace before Trump’s 100th day in office next week.
Despite Putin’s refusal to agree with a ceasefire and the continuous missile attacks against Ukraine, the US President criticized Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly for paralyzed peace negotiations, while adopting a more cautious tone compared to Russian leader.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right), with Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Friday. | Kristina Kormilitsyna/AP
The Russian Investigative Committee stated that the explosions were caused by the detonation of a makeshift explosive device full of shrapnel. The committee, which investigates serious crimes, said it had opened a criminal case.
Baza, a telegram channel with sources in Russian police agencies, said a bomb in a car parked in the city of Balashikha, in the Moscow region, was remotely detonated when the policeman, who lived there, passed by.
A video that circulated on Russian social networks captured the moment the car exploded, while additional images showed the vehicle completely burned.
Kiev has not yet commented on the incident.
Since the start of the large -scale invasion, Ukraine has attacked dozens of Russian military officers and Russian -sworn authorities, accused of Kiev of committing war crimes in the country. Little is known, however, about the clandestine cells of the Ukrainian resistance involved in murders and attacks on military infrastructure in Russia and in areas controlled by it.
Last December, Ukraine’s security services attacked another high -ranking Russian general who was killed after an explosive device hidden in an electric scooter detonated outside an apartment building in Moscow.
At the time, Keith Kellogg, a special representative appointed by Donald Trump to Ukraine and Russia, criticized the murder of Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, saying that this could violate the rules of war.
In addition to military figures, Ukraine targets important pro-war Russian propagandists, including Darya Duina, daughter of an ultranationalist Russian ideologist who was killed in 2023 when a bomb exploded the Toyota Land Cruiser she drove.
Moskalik, 59, has been part of several high -level Russian foreign delegations in recent years, including at least two rounds of negotiations with Ukraine and Western authorities in 2015 and 2019, as well as a visit in 2018 to Assad regime in Syria.
Sources close to the Ministry of Defense say that their influence within the Russian army was increasing.
Mikhail Zvinchuk, a popular Russian military blogger with defense stablishment connections, said: “According to behind-the-scenes conversations, a scenario for reorganization of personnel in the general state had Moskalik being considered a possible head of the National Defense Management Center, mainly due to his methodical approach and consideration.”
Originally published by The Guardian on 25/04/2025
By Pjotr ​​Sauer
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2025/04/25/general-russo-morre-em-explosao-de-carro-em-moscou-no-dia-da-visita-do-enviado-de-trump/
