THE first picture of the Ukrainian suspect in the car bomb killing of a senior Russian war general has been revealed, as the alleged assassin managed to evade Russian spies and flee the country.
Lieutenant-General Yaroslav Moskalik, 59, was taken out by a remote controlled car bomb as near Moscow.
As information continues to emerge on the suspected car bombing that brutally killed the Russian general, one Russian Telegram account has speculated that the main suspect – named asIgnat Kuzin –was from Sumy, Ukraine.
The alleged bomber managed to evade Putin's secret services before escaping to on 23 April, according to reports.
He is believed to be the owner of the Volkswagen Golf and rented a flat in the same building as the slain general in recent months.
The Golf was left decimated in Balashikha in region at around 10.40am today.
Investigators claimed the VW was fitted with a surveillance camera and packed with 500 grams of explosives.
The car was quickly engulfed in flames as thick black smoke billowed into the sky.
The timing of the deadly ploy comes as US President ‘s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin today.
Putin is holding more talks in with Witkoff, with the pair pictured shaking hands in the Russian capital.
It is the fourth meeting the Putin and Witkoff have had within three months.
Lieutenant-General Moskalik, who had recently been promoted by , was said to have been walking past at the exact moment of the explosion and was thrown “several metres” across the path.
Traces of IED striking elements were reportedly also found at the scene.
The explosive devices were said to have been “filled with shrapnel”, according to state news agency TASS.
Two others were also seriously injured, unconfirmed reports claim.
Locals also reported hearing several more detonations erupting, according to Russian media.
Moskalik was the deputy chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
But he had recently been promoted to Lieutenant-General shortly before his death.
He also represented Russia’s General Staff in talks with in 2015.
The explosive was likely detonated from a remote location with the car parked only a few feet away from a tall apartment block.
One building even had its windows shattered due to the ferocity of the explosion, locals said.
It is still unclear who may have caused the blast with many onlookers left shocked by the inferno.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case into the explosion.
ASSASSINATION FEARS
A number of top Russian officials have been targeted in similar covert attacks since Putin launched his full scale invasion on Ukraine over three years ago.
Russian electronic warfare expert Yevgeny Rytikov reportedly died on 18 April in an undisclosed car bombing, Ukraine said on Friday.
Rytikov developed cutting edge electronic warfare equipment for the Russian army.
The Ukrainian report said: “It is known that Rytikov's car exploded when he and a colleague got into it.
“It is likely that another person who also died as a result of the explosion was the deputy head of the design bureau or his assistant.
“It is designed to counter airborne radars of attack, reconnaissance and unmanned aircraft.”
And in December, a bomb planted in an electric scooter accused of masterminding the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, 54, was killed as the device detonated just seconds after he left his apartment in Moscow.
Ukraine's intelligence services said they were behind the blast at the time as Britain's MI6 revealed it helps with “covert action”.
Last November, another top Putin commander was
A graphic video showed how naval commander Captain Valery Trankovsky was blown up in a fiery inferno.
Trankovsky's legs had blasted off in the explosion and he died from “combined injuries and profuse blood loss.”;
The commander has been the highest-ranking naval officer to be killed on the edge of Russia since the invasion started.
Back in July, Andrei Torgashov, 50, jumped into a Land Cruiser Prado which quickly exploded – leaving his legs blown off.
Russian authorities suspected the blast north of Moscow, was likely linked to the war in Ukraine and was treated as an assassination attempt.
