Kremlin blames Ukraine for car bomb killing of Russian general - as Trump envoy meets Putin

The Kremlin has blamed Ukraine for a car bomb that killed a Russian general near Moscow hours before Donald Trump's envoy was due to meet Vladimir Putin in the capital.

The death of Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik is the second such fatal attack on a top Russian military officer in four months. Russia's top criminal investigation agency said he was killed by an explosive device placed in his car in Balashikha, just outside the capital.

Follow the latest updates on the Ukraine war Moskalik was a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces. "The Kyiv regime once again simply shows its true nature.

The Kyiv regime continues to be involved in terrorist activity on the territory of our country," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He didn't offer any evidence.

"It shows once again that, despite the peace talks, we must be on guard and understand the nature of this regime." Ukraine has not responded to the killing. Investigative committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said the explosive device was rigged with shrapnel, adding that investigators were at the scene.

Videos showed a vehicle burning in the courtyard of an apartment building and a body covered in a sheet could be seen on the pavement nearby. It comes after Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was killed in December when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter parked outside his apartment building exploded as he left for his office.

Russian authorities blamed Ukraine for the killing of Kirillov, and Ukraine's security agency acknowledged that it was behind that attack. Kirillov was the chief of Russia's radiation, biological and chemical protection forces, the special troops tasked with protecting the military from the enemy's use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and ensuring operations in a contaminated environment.

His assistant also died in the attack. Talks bring Russia and US 'closer together' Friday's bombing came as Mr Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met Mr Putin in Moscow to discuss a US-brokered peace plan for Ukraine.

The talks allowed Russia and the United States to "further bring their positions closer together" on "a number of international issues.