Ignat Kuzin acted on orders from Ukrainian handlers and planted a bomb that killed Yaroslav Moskalik in a Moscow suburb, investigators have said
Russian investigators have charged a man with carrying out a car bomb attack that killed a senior general in a Moscow suburb last week. The suspect confessed to acting under orders from Ukrainian security services, the Investigative Committee has said.
In a statement released on Sunday, investigators announced that 42-year-old Ignat Kuzin faces charges of committing a terrorist act and illegal handling and manufacturing of explosives. The committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said Kuzin fully admitted his guilt and agreed to confirm his testimony during on-site investigation procedures.
Kuzin was detained shortly after the explosion that killed the deputy chief of operations of Russia’s General Staff, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, on April 25 outside his home in Balashikha. Petrenko stated that Kuzin had been recruited by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) in 2023. For his involvement, Kuzin was allegedly promised a payment of $18,000.
Investigators added that Kuzin moved to Russia in September 2023 “awaiting specific instructions from a Ukrainian handler.”
In late 2024, Kuzin received information identifying Moskalik, the deputy chief of operations of Russia’s General Staff, as his target and began surveillance by renting an apartment in the same building, according to the Investigative Committee. Authorities said he purchased a car and parked it near the entrance, and later planted an explosive device and also installed surveillance cameras and control systems which he retrieved from a secret cache.
The Committee said that after final preparations on April 23, Kuzin “disappeared from the scene.” The bomb was detonated remotely by an “unidentified employee of the Ukrainian special services,” Petrenko explained.
Investigators confirmed that Moskalik was killed instantly by the blast, which was caused by a improvised explosive device packed with shrapnel.
According to the Telegram channel ‘112’, Kuzin was detained in Turkey. The outlet reported that the man is originally from the Ukrainian city of Sumy. Kuzin holds a residence permit in Ukraine, the FSB said.
