The Russian Foreign Ministry has officially accused Ukrainian intelligence services of being involved in the explosion of the car of Yaroslav Moskalyk, the Deputy Head of the Main Operational Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which occurred on April 25 near Moscow. A representative of the diplomatic agency, Maria Zakharova, stated that a criminal case has already been opened, which is being handled by the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.
This is reported by Kyiv24
“There are grounds to believe that Ukrainian intelligence services are involved in the murder, especially since Yaroslav Moskalyk was known to them from his time working in the Minsk contact group and the ‘Normandy format,’” Zakharova noted.
Zakharova accused Ukraine of allegedly “betting on the escalation of military confrontation with Russia and irresponsibly ignoring constructive proposals aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict.” Meanwhile, the Ukrainian command and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry have not commented on this information at this time.
The Russian Investigative Committee confirmed that criminal individuals are behind the murder of Moskalyk, which occurred as a result of the detonation of an improvised explosive device. The explosion was caused by a blast carried out using homemade explosives, according to Russian investigative authorities.
Investigating Moskalyk’s Participation in International Negotiations
As noted by the Russian service of Radio Free Europe, General Moskalyk was mentioned in reports by the Russian news agency TASS in 2021. It states that he held the position of Deputy Head of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff. In 2015, according to data published by journalist Oleg Kashin, Moskalyk participated in negotiations in the so-called Normandy format, which involved Ukraine and Russia—this information is available on the official website of the Kremlin.
Radio Free Europe established that Moskalyk was involved in these negotiations several times, including in 2019, with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He also participated in meetings with then-President of Syria Bashar al-Assad in 2018. It is unknown whether Moskalyk participated in combat operations against Ukraine or performed other military duties during this time.