Balashikha (Russia) (AFP) - An explosive device ripped through a parked car near Moscow on Friday killing a senior Russian general, investigators said, in an attack that resembled previous killings claimed by Ukraine.

Authorities named the victim as General-lieutenant Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operational directorate of the military’s General Staff, which is in charge of army operations.

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

Ukraine has called some of them “legitimate targets” and sees the attacks as retribution for Moscow’s military campaign, which has resulted in tens of thousands of people killed.

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.s

“Our military figure was killed as a result of a terrorist attack,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. Investigators have not confirmed this charge.

The leader of Russia’s Caucasus region of North Osetia, Sergei Menyailo, told RIA Novosti that Ukraine could be behind the killing.

“People like Yaroslav stick in the enemy’s craw,” he said.

The blast was close to a block of flats.

Nearby were the charred remains of a white car with its front section torn away, according to footage posted by the Investigative Committee.

Investigators lifted a body in a black plastic sack and carried it to an ambulance, an AFP journalist saw.

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

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, a 50-year-old who lives nearby told AFP.

- ‘Improvised explosive device’ -

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.

Security camera footage posted by the Izvestia newspaper of Friday’s blast showed a massive explosion, sending fragments flying into the air. The blast happens just as someone can be seen walking towards the car.

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

The Agentstvo investigative news site, citing leaked information, said Moskalik lived in Balashikha, but the Volkswagen was not registered to him.

Russian Telegram channels with links to law enforcement posted unconfirmed reports that the car had been purchased a few months ago by a man from the Ukrainian city of Sumy and loaded with explosives.

They wrote that it had been parked outside the block of flats for a few days and was equipped with a camera.

TASS reported that Moskalik was 59.

According to the Kremlin website, he had represented the Russian military at ceasefire talks with Ukraine in 2015 amid 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.

It has not commented on Friday’s attack.

After the killing of Kirillov, the Russian military’s chemical weapons chief, Putin made a rare accusation of failure by powerful security agencies.

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