Sawt Falasteen - Russia accuses Ukraine of killing general in car bombing

An explosive device ripped through a parked car outside Moscow on Friday killing senior Russian general Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operational directorate of the military's General Staff, Russian authorities reported.

Kyiv has not commented on the blast, which bore the hallmarks of previous attacks on military figures and high-profile backers of the Kremlin's offensive over the last three years.

"There are reasons to believe that Ukraine's special services were involved in the murder," Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

If Ukrainian involvement is confirmed, she said it would be a sign of Kyiv's "barbaric" nature and accused them of "escalating" attacks and trying to ruin ceasefire talks.

The blast occurred as US Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff was arriving in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kyiv says Russia is not serious about peace, as shown by a wave of deadly missile attacks that have killed dozens of civilians over the last three weeks -- including 12 in the capital Kyiv on Thursday.

Russia's Investigative Committee said it had opened a murder probe after a Volkswagen Golf blew up outside a block of flats in the town of Balashikha, east of Moscow.

AFP journalists saw investigators lifting a body in a black plastic sack and carrying it to an ambulance.

Police had cordoned off the site on Friday, with ambulances and fire engines surrounding the area.

- 'Improvised explosive device' -

Footage from the Investigative Committee showed the charred remains of a white car with its front section torn away.

Locals said they heard a loud blast at around 10:45 am (0745 GMT).

"The explosion was very strong, it even gave me heart pain," Lyudmila, who lives nearby, told AFP.

The killing appeared similar to previous attacks claimed by Kyiv on figures linked to Russia's three-year offensive on the country.

Ukraine's secret services said last December it was behind the assassination of the head of the Russian military's chemical weapons department, general Igor Kirillov.

A remotely operated bomb attached to a scooter had exploded as Kirillov left an apartment block in Moscow.

Attackers triggered an improvised explosive device packed with metal fragments designed to cause maximum harm, investigators said.

The TASS state news agency reported that Moskalik was 59.

According to the Kremlin website, he had represented the Russian military at ceasefire talks with Ukraine in 2015 during the conflict between Kyiv and Russian-backed separatists.

- 'Serious blunders' -

Russian President Vladimir Putin made Moskalik general-lieutenant in 2021.

The department where he is deputy chief was described as "a key link in planning operations in Ukraine," by the independent Vazhniye Istorii outlet.

Russians linked to Moscow's military offensive in Ukraine had been targeted in attacks over the last three years.

These include the August 2022 car bombing of nationalist Darya Dugina and an explosion in a Saint Petersburg cafe in April 2023 that killed high-profile military correspondent Maxim Fomin, known as Vladlen Tatarsky.

Kyiv has in some cases claimed responsibility or revelled in the attacks, calling them "legitimate targets" given Russia's three-year offensive has killed tens of thousands.

"We must not allow such very serious blunders to happen," he said.

Q.Bulbul--SF-PST