Russia security services have detained a man suspected of killing a general in a car blast outside Moscow, the FSB secret service said today.
The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of being behind yesterday's blast which killed Yaroslav Moskalik, the deputy head of the main operational division of the military's general staff.
"Ukrainian special services agent Ignat Kuzin, born in 1983, a resident of Ukraine, who planted explosives in a Volkswagen Golf in the city of Balashikha in the Moscow region, killing Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik, was detained," the FSB said in a statement.
They claim that Mr Kuzin rigged the car with a homemade explosive device, which he took from a Ukrainian special service stash in the Moscow region, and that the bomb was then detonated remotely from Ukraine.
The suspect, who might be facing a life sentence on terrorism charges, is now being questioned by the officers, Russia's federal investigation organisation - the Investigative Committee - said.
Ukraine 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.
Ukraine accuses Russia of 'propaganda tricks'
The Russian army claimed it has fully liberated the border Kursk region from Ukrainian control with the help of North Korean soldiers.
Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov admitted the participation of North Korean forces in the conflict for the first time.
He hailed their "heroism", and said they had "provided significant assistance in defeating the group of Ukrainian armed forces".
But shortly after, the Ukrainian army denied it had been driven out of Kursk, saying that "statements by the enemy leadership about the 'defeat' of the Ukrainian troops are nothing more than propaganda tricks".
The Ukrainian chief of staff did acknowledge that the situation on the battlefield was "difficult", while insisting Ukrainian forces were still holding positions in Kursk.
The Ukrainian army said it was also continuing operations in some areas of Belgorod, another Russia's border region.
According to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies, more than 10,000 soldiers from North Korea were sent to Russia last year to help Moscow fight Ukraine's shock offensive in Kursk.
Kyiv had hoped it could use land in the Kursk region as a bargaining chip in future peace talks with Russia, which has seized parts of eastern and southern Ukraine since its offensive began in 2022.
"Today, the last settlement in the Kursk region, the village of Gornal, has been liberated from Ukrainian forces," Mr Gerasimov said during a video conference meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The Kyiv regime's adventure has completely failed," Mr Putin said, thanking the soldiers for the service and saying that Kursk's liberation will create the conditions for further advances at other parts of the front.
