Top Russian general killed in Moscow as U.S. envoy talks with Putin

A high-ranking Russian military official was killed Friday in an explosion in a suburb of Moscow, in what authorities are treating as a case of murder. The incident coincides with the meeting of President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Moscow for high-stakes talks with President Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin disclosed few details following the three-hour meeting between Witkoff and Putin, their fourth in recent months, as Trump continues to push for a resolution to the three-year war in Ukraine.

Yury Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser, described the talks as “constructive,” saying they helped narrow the gap between Russian and U.S. positions not only on Ukraine but on several broader international issues. Ushakov added the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives was discussed.

As Witkoff’s private jet approached Moscow ahead of the talks, Russia’s Investigative Committee, its top policing body, launched a criminal investigation into the death of Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, who was killed when a vehicle rigged with an improvised explosive device packed with shrapnel detonated. Surveillance footage published from the scene suggests Moskalik was walking past the car at the time of the explosion.

Kommersant newspaper, citing sources close to the investigation, reported that the device was detonated remotely and that Moskalik had been under surveillance via a camera installed inside the vehicle.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called it a “terrorist attack” and said there were “grounds to believe” Ukrainian special services had been involved. Ukrainian officials have not publicly commented on the incident.

Moskalik was part of the Russian delegation negotiating the aftermath of Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and its limited invasion of eastern Ukraine. He participated in a meeting in 2019 over the failed peace process that also included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to Russian media.

Russian military bloggers who support the 2022 invasion of Ukraine have reacted strongly to Moskalik’s death. The influential Rybar channel, run by blogger Mikhail Zvinchuk, who has close ties to the defense establishment, described Moskalik as “one of the most intelligent and demanding officers in the Main Directorate of the General Staff — not well-liked, because he demanded results and was relentlessly tough on his subordinates.”

“Given the high-profile nature of the target and the method of execution, there is little doubt Ukrainian special services were involved,” the channel said of Moskalik’s death.

Rybar compared it to the December killing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of the Radiation, Biological and Chemical Defense Forces. The Investigative Committee at the time said Kirillov was killed by a remotely detonated explosive planted in a scooter parked outside a residential complex in Moscow.

Kirillov was the highest-ranking Russian military official to be killed outside combat since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Kirillov’s assistant was also killed. The SBU, Ukraine’s domestic security service, was responsible for the “special operation,” according to an agency official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

Ukrainian special services have also previously claimed responsibility for several attacks on high-ranking Russian military officials. In November, a senior Russian naval officer, Valery Trankovsky, was killed in a car bombing in Crimea.

An official in Ukraine’s security services told the Ukrainian Pravda outlet at the time that the agency had orchestrated the attack that killed Trankovsky, the chief of staff of the 41st Missile Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet.

Witkoff is meeting Putin for the fourth time as peace talks have reached a critical juncture. Trump claimed Wednesday that Russia was ready for a deal, but that Zelenskyy was proving difficult.

Ukraine accepted a U.S. proposal for a full ceasefire in March, but Russia has not. The White House has since proposed increasingly generous terms for Russia, including U.S. recognition of Russian sovereignty in the strategic Crimean Peninsula. Zelenskyy has demanded a ceasefire before he will talk about concessions.

Trump issued a rare rebuke to Russia on Thursday after an attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, calling it “not necessary, and very bad timing.”

The strike, the latest in a devastating series of Russian attacks on civilians, comes amid growing pressure from the White House for Kyiv to accept a land-for-peace deal. With no firm security assurances on the table, the proposal is seen by many Ukrainians as a lopsided agreement that rewards aggression and undermines their sovereignty and long-term security.

Witkoff has recently presented European and Ukrainian officials in Paris a proposal meant to “represent the final offer from the United States to both sides,” a deal he is expected to negotiate with Putin.

The proposal floated U.S. recognition of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Trump in a recent interview with Time Magazine said “Crimea will stay with Russia” as part of the negotiations. “And Zelenskyy understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time.”

U.S. recognition of Russia’s claim to Crimea would represent a major victory for Putin’s long-standing objective of sidelining Washington from its role as a global enforcer.

The deal Witkoff presented in Paris also suggests that sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 in relation to its aggression toward Ukraine would be lifted, which would pave the way for the U.S. and Russia to strike deals on energy and in other industrial sectors.

In Moscow, Witkoff also met with Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s business envoy in the talks, who has presented multiple economic proposals to Trump as part of broader negotiations through which the Kremlin aims to normalize relations with Washington.