Latest news with #YaroslavMoskalik
CBS News
2 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Explosion kills Russian veteran who led airstrikes on Ukraine port city
A retired Russian commander who led airstrikes on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol died in a blast early Thursday in Stavropol in southern Russia, authorities said. Zaur Gurtsiev, 34, received several medals for participating in Russia's grueling assaults on the cities of Mariupol and Avdiivka. Authorities did not say what caused the explosion, but also did not rule out that Ukraine was responsible. Videos posted by Russian Telegram channels showed two men, one of them Gurtsiev, standing together in a residential neighborhood before a blast. A string of high-profile Russian servicemen have been killed in Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022. In December, the head of the Russian military's biological and chemical weapons unit, Lt. General Igor Kirillov, was killed along with his deputy in an explosion in Moscow, Russia's Investigative Committee said at the time. More recently, in April, an explosive device in Moscow killed a senior Russian general, General-Lieutenant Yaroslav Moskalik, the deputy head of the main operational directorate of the military's general staff, according to Russia's investigative committee. Kyiv has in some cases claimed responsibility or reveled in the attacks, calling them "legitimate targets" given Moscow's three-year offensive has killed tens of thousands. Ukrainian security forces told CBS News after Kirillov's death that Security Service of Ukraine killed him in a special operation, a claim that could not be independently verified but sparked Russian calls for revenge against Ukrainian leaders. "Our hero, veteran of the special military operation and participant in the Time of Heroes programme, Zaur Alexandrovich Gurtsiev, has died," said Stavropol region governor Vladimir Vladimirov, using Russia's term for its Ukraine offensive. "All versions are being considered, including the organisation of a terrorist attack involving Nazis from Ukraine," he added, echoing the Kremlin's claim that it is fighting neo-Nazis in Ukraine. The veteran's 29-year-old acquaintance died alongside him, Stavropol law enforcement said. The Time of Heroes is the Kremlin's programme aimed to boost the careers of veterans stringently chosen to become part of Russia's future elite. Gurtsiev was serving as Stavropol's deputy mayor. He had commanded Moscow's air assault on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, a bustling Black Sea city devastated by Russian airstrikes. Russian forces rolled into Mariupol at the beginning of 2022 and imposed a brutal siege for nearly three months that resulted in 8,000 deaths, according to Human Rights Watch. The siege included a deadly airstrike on a theatre where civilians were hiding. Ukraine does not typically comment on clandestine operations on the enemy's territory.
Russia Today
30-04-2025
- Russia Today
Ukrainian saboteurs nearly blew themselves up – officials (VIDEO)
Two alleged Ukrainian agents were injured in an explosion earlier this month while assembling an improvised explosive device in central Russia, Russia's Investigative Committee has announced. Both were subsequently detained, local officials have said. A Moldovan national is also reportedly under investigation for allegedly helping to deliver bomb components used in the failed plot. In a statement on Wednesday, the Investigative Committee said the suspects – a Ukrainian national and a Belarusian citizen – were preparing a 'terrorist act' targeting a serviceman from a Russian volunteer battalion involved in the Ukraine conflict. The improvised bomb exploded while they were assembling the device in the city of Khanty-Mansiysk on April 12. The blast destroyed two apartments and left five people hospitalized, including the suspects themselves, the authorities said. The parts, provided by a Ukrainian intelligence agent, were allegedly disguised inside a screwdriver battery and an aromatic candle, and delivered from Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine, via Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus, according to the Committee. The Investigative Committee also released a video showing the moment of the explosion, which damaged the corner of the building, along with footage of emergency crews extinguishing the fire and investigators working at the scene. Two men are seen being escorted by police into a law enforcement building and admitting responsibility for the blast and their involvement in the assassination plot. Initial media reports on the incident suggested a gas explosion. However, regional officials were quick to dismiss the claim, saying that the building was not connected to a gas supply. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Moscow has accused Ukrainian special services of attempts to assassinate numerous Russian commanders, officials and other high-profile figures as well as sabotage operations. On Sunday, Moscow announced that it had detained a suspected Ukrainian-linked culprit behind the killing of Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, the deputy chief of operations of Russia's General Staff, who died in a car explosion earlier this month.
Daily Mail
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Putin mouthpieces declare 'British blood must be spilled' in terrifying WW3 threat after Kremlin accuses Britain of supplying explosives that killed top general
Vladimir Putin 's propagandists have declared that British blood 'must be spilled' in a haunting World War III threat, after they accused Britain of supplying the explosives that killed a top general in a Moscow car bomb last week. Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik died in Moscow last week near his home in the eastern suburb of Balashikha after a Volkswagen Gold filled with explosives was detonated in his presence. The dead military man was a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian army. While the Kremlin last week blamed Ukraine for the attack, Putin's propagandists have now turned their ire on Britain. So-called military expert Andrei Klintsevich told Russia 1 that Britain's security service handed explosives to the perpetrators 'by the ton.' Propagandist Vladimir Solovyov angrily added: 'We do realise that someone is creative a network of planted explosives and [transporting] these explosives. 'When we say that British security services are behind every terrorist attack, it means that the blood of the British who authorised the killings on Russian soil must be spilled. 'They must realise that they will pay personally. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.' Solovyov threatened revenge on the alleged suppliers of the explosives and British intelligence. 'If these factories blow up [as well as] the headquarters of the intelligence agencies that gave the go-ahead for the terrorist attacks, they should not be surprised,' he said. The commander was personally in charge of briefing Vladimir Putin on the war in south-eastern Crimea. The bombing has been blamed on Ukraine, as was the December assassination of Lt-Gen Igor Kirillov, 54, in charge of Russia 's radiation, chemical and biological defence troops, who died in a bomb blast as he emerged from his apartment building in Moscow. This month also saw the killing in a car bombing of electronic warfare expert Yevgeny Rytikov, 34, head of the design bureau at the Bryansk Electromechanical Plant. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to take responsibility for the assassinations, saying he was this week briefed by his head of Foreign Intelligence 'on the liquidation of individuals from the top command of the Russian armed forces'. He said: 'Thank you for your work.' It comes after Putin lackey Dmitry Medvedev warned that Sweden and Finland, two of NATO's latest members, are now potential targets of nuclear revenge. The moment of the explosion said to have killed Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Dmitry Medvedev, who has styled himself as one of Russia 's most outspoken anti-Western hawks, appeared to be referring to Sweden and Finland, the last two countries to join the Western military alliance. If conflict were to arise, nuclear weapons would not be off the table, the TASS state news agency reported. 'The non-aligned status gave them [Finland and Sweden] certain international perks, given their geopolitical position and many other factors,' Medvedev said. 'And now they are part of a bloc hostile to us which means they automatically became a target for our armed forces, including potential retaliatory strikes and even the nuclear component or preventive measures within the framework of a military doctrine.' Sweden was granted full membership of NATO last March, while Finland joined in April 2023, extending the alliance's border with Russia by over 1,300km. Last week, Moscow also warned Britain against deploying a 'coalition of the willing' in Ukraine, declaring it could lead to a nuclear World War Three. Putin hawk Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the powerful Russian security council and ex-defence minister, said Russia rejected Western boots on the ground in the war-torn country.
Saudi Gazette
28-04-2025
- Saudi Gazette
Suspect in killing of general claims he was paid by Ukraine
MOSCOW — A man arrested on suspiction of killing a Russian general with a car bomb has pleased guilty to terrorism charges and said he was paid by the Ukrainian Security Service, Russian authorities said on Sunday. Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, was killed along with his assistant on Friday by a bomb in his car in Balashikha, outside the capital Moscow. Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the attack, which was the second in four months targetting high-ranked Russian military offices that was blamed on Ukraine amid the conflict between the two countries. Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov died on 17 December 2024 when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building exploded as he walked past on the way to his office. Ukraine's security agency did acknowledge it was behind that attack. Kirillov was the head of Russia's Radiation, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces, a special group of soldiers responsible for protecting the military from enemy use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons while ensuring operations in a contaminated environment. He was under sanction from a number of countries, including the UK and Canada, due to his actions in the war against Ukraine. — Euronews
Euronews
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Suspect in killing of general claims he was paid by Ukraine, Russia says
ADVERTISEMENT A man arrested on suspiction of killing a Russian general with a car bomb has pleased guilty to terrorism charges and said he was paid by the Ukrainian Security Service, Russian authorities said on Sunday. Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, was killed along with his asistant on Friday by a bomb in his car in Balashikha, outside the capital Moscow. Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the attack, which was the second in four months targetting high-ranked Russian military offices that was blamed on Ukraine amid the conflict between the two countries. Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov died on 17 December 2024 when a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building exploded as he walked past on the way to his office. Ukraine's security agency did acknowledge it was behind that attack. Kirillov was the head of Russia's Radiation, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces, a special group of soldiers responsible for protecting the military from enemy use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons while ensuring operations in a contaminated environment. He was under sanction from a number of countries, including the UK and Canada, due to his actions in the war against Ukraine.
