A top Russian military official, General Yaroslav Moskalik, has been killed in a car explosion in the city of Balashikha, just east of Moscow, Russian authorities confirmed on Friday. The explosion coincided with US special envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow.

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Russian news outlet Tass reported that Maria Zakharova, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, called the killing of Lt Gen Yaroslav Moskalik a “terrorist attack”.

Watch: In Rare Rebuke, Donald Trump Urges Putin To End War After Russia's Deadly Attack

According to a statement from Russia’s Investigative Committee, the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) packed with shrapnel. General Moskalik was serving as the deputy head of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

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The general was reportedly inside a Volkswagen Golf when the explosion occurred. The Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation and deployed a team of forensic experts and law enforcement officers to examine the site of the blast.

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State-run news agency Tass also reported that a homemade explosive device had detonated the vehicle in Balashikha, a city located less than 20 miles from Moscow.

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Second blast in Moscow area this week

This incident follows another explosion earlier in the week when a fire broke out in an underground car park in Moscow’s business district after a separate blast. The events have raised concerns about a possible pattern of targeted attacks.

This adds to a growing list of fatal incidents involving figures aligned with Russia's war in Ukraine.

Also read: 'Vladimir, STOP': Trump slams Putin for Russian strikes on Kyiv, tells him to stop attacking Ukraine

Back in February, Armen Sarkisyan, a known pro-Russia separatist from Ukraine, was killed in a bombing at a gated residence in Moscow. Ukrainian officials also declined to comment at that time.

In December last year, Igor Kirillov, a general responsible for overseeing Russia’s nuclear and chemical weapons protection forces, was killed by a bomb near a residential building in the capital. An official from Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) later claimed responsibility for that attack.