An explosive device ripped through a parked car near Moscow on Friday killing a senior Russian general, investigators said, in an attack that resembled previous killings claimed by Ukraine.

Authorities named the victim as General-lieutenant Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operational directorate of the military's General Staff, which is in charge of army operations.

Kyiv had not commented on the attack, which bore the hallmarks of previous assassinations of military figures and high-profile backers of the Kremlin's offensive over the last three years.

Ukraine has called some of them "legitimate targets" and sees the attacks as retribution for Moscow's military campaign, which has resulted in tens of thousands of people killed.

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.

"Our military figure was killed as a result of a........

© International Business Times