MOSCOW: Russia on Friday (Apr 25) accused Ukraine of being behind a car bombing that killed a senior general, the latest in a spate of assassinations of figures linked to Moscow's military offensive. An explosive device ripped through a parked car outside Moscow on Friday killing senior Russian general Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operational directorate of the military's General Staff, Russian authorities reported. Kyiv has not commented on the blast, which bore the hallmarks of previous attacks on military figures and high-profile backers of the Kremlin's offensive over the last three years. "There are reasons to believe that Ukraine's special services were involved in the murder," Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. If Ukrainian involvement is confirmed, she said it would be a sign of Kyiv's "barbaric" nature and accused them of "escalating" attacks and trying to ruin ceasefire talks. The blast occurred as US Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff was arriving in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Kyiv says Russia is not serious about peace, as shown by a wave of deadly missile attacks that have killed dozens of civilians over the last three weeks - including 12 in the capital Kyiv on Thursday. Russia's Investigative Committee said it had opened a murder probe after a Volkswagen Golf blew up outside a block of flats in the town of Balashikha, east of Moscow. AFP journalists saw investigators lifting a body in a black plastic sack and carrying it to an ambulance. Police had cordoned off the site on Friday, with ambulances and fire engines surrounding the area.