Russian court remands in custody a Ukrainian citizen facing terrorism

28/4/2025 6:03

A Moscow court on Sunday

ordered remanded in custody a Ukrainian citizen facing terrorism

charges over the killing of a senior Russian military officer

near Moscow, Russia's Investigative Committee said.



The Kremlin has blamed Ukraine for Friday's car bomb that

killed 59-year-old Yaroslav Moskalik, the latest in a series of

Russian military officers and pro-war figures to be assassinated

since the start of the war in Ukraine.



Ukraine has not commented on the incident.



The Investigative Committee, which deals with serious crimes

in Russia, said the suspect, Ignat Kuzin, had pleaded guilty to

killing Moskalik and had said he was recruited by Ukraine's

security services.



The committee, in a post on the Telegram messaging app,

later said the court ordered Kuzin remanded in custody. Russian

news agencies said the order remained in effect for 30 days.



Moskalik, who was deputy head of the Main Operations

Directorate of Russia's General Staff, was killed on Friday in

the town of Balashikha, hours before U.S. President Donald

Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff was due to hold talks with President

Vladimir Putin in Moscow on ending the war in Ukraine.



The Investigative Committee said Russian authorities were

trying to identify others who might have been involved in the

killing of Moskalik.



Russian war bloggers described Moskalik as a rising star. He

had participated in several high-level Russian delegations that

have met Western officials to try to negotiate a settlement to

the conflict in Ukraine.



He also dealt with Syria, presenting a report on

military-technical cooperation in Africa and the Middle East at

a security forum in Moscow in 2021.