Reuters: A senior Russian officer assassinated by a car bomb MOSCOW, April 25 (Reuters) - Russia's Investigative Committee said that a senior Russian military officer was killed when a car exploded on Friday in the town of Balashikha just east of Moscow. The officer who died has been identified as Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, and it was stated that criminal proceedings have been initiated regarding the incident. According to the statement from the Investigative Committee, "Based on available data, the explosion occurred due to the detonation of an improvised explosive device filled with destructive elements." The report noted that the statement did not specify who might be behind the incident. Since the start of the Ukraine war, several high-ranking Russian military figures have been assassinated, with Moscow accusing Kyiv of orchestrating the attacks. Russian media outlet Baza, which can obtain information from Russian law enforcement agencies, reported that when the local officer walked past, a bomb inside a parked car was remotely detonated. The newspaper Kommersant released a video clip showing a person approaching a row of parked cars outside an apartment building, causing vehicle debris to fly into the air after the explosion. The newspaper also mentioned that another person died. The report stated that, according to the Russian Defense Ministry's announcement and media reports, Major General Moskalik, who held the rank of lieutenant general, had participated in several high-level Russian delegations. In October 2015, he attended the Normandy Format meeting, which was composed of teams from Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and France to discuss the implementation of the Minsk Agreement aimed at ending the conflict between Ukrainian and pro-Russian separatist forces that erupted in 2014. According to the Kremlin website, Moskalik represented the Russian Army General Staff in negotiations alongside Foreign Minister Lavrov and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. The report stated that last December, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) assassinated Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov using a bomb hidden in an electric scooter. Kiev accused him of being responsible for chemical weapons attacks on Ukrainian forces. The original title of the report is "Senior Russian Military Officer Killed in Car Explosion Near Moscow." Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1830382601782425/ Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's personal views.