Yaroslav Moskalik
Russian military officer (1966–2025)
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Yaroslav Yaroslavovich Moskalik (Russian: Ярослав Ярославович Москалик, 22 August 1966 – 25 April 2025) was a Russian lieutenant general who served as Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. He was killed in a car bomb explosion in Balashikha, Moscow Oblast, in April 2025.[1][2]
Yaroslav Moskalik | |
|---|---|
Moskalik in 2021 | |
| Native name | Ярослав Ярославович Москалик |
| Born | 22 August 1966 |
| Died | 25 April 2025 (aged 58) Balashikha, Russia |
Cause of death | Assassination by car bomb |
| Allegiance |  Russia |
Branch |  Russian Armed Forces |
Service years | 1983–2025 |
Rank | Lieutenant general |
| Unit | General Staff |
| Commands | Deputy Chief − Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff |
Early life
Moskalik was born on 22 August 1966 in Angren, in the Tashkent Region of what was then the Uzbek SSR.[3]
Military career
Moskalik began his service in the Russian Armed Forces in 1983[3] and graduated from the Far Eastern Higher Combined Arms Command School in 1987[3] and the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in 2002.[3]
Moskalik held the rank of Major General[4] and served as the Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.[4]
He was a senior officer involved in strategic military operations and represented the Russian General Staff in negotiations with Ukraine in Paris in 2015[5] and, at least in 2019, in Normandy Format, a group made up of teams from Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France who oversaw the Minsk agreements designed to end the war between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatist forces that broke out in 2014.[6]
In December 2021, Moskalik was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant general.[7]
Assassination
Around 10:40 local time on 25 April 2025, Moskalik was killed in a car bomb explosion in Balashikha, a suburb east of Moscow. According to reports, an improvised explosive device (IED) with shrapnel was detonated remotely in a parked car as Moskalik, who lived in the area, passed by.[8] The explosion was powerful enough to shatter windows in nearby buildings.[9] Russia's Investigative Committee classified the incident as murder and confirmed the use of a homemade explosive device.[10]
A similar incident occurred in December 2024, when another Russian general, Igor Kirillov, was killed in a bomb attack in Moscow, attributed by both the Security Service of Ukraine[11] and Russian authorities to Ukrainian intelligence services.[12]
On 26 April, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest and confession of Ignat Kuzin,[13] a 42-year old Russian national who formerly lived in Ukraine, for planting the explosives on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence in exchange for $18,000. He was subsequently charged with terrorism.[14][15] On November 27, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment.[13]