A senior Russian military officer died in a car blast in the city of Balashikha, just east of Moscow, according to authorities. Russia’s Investigative Committee said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device and has opened a criminal probe into the case.

The Investigative Committee said that Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car in Balashikha, just outside Moscow, Russia’s capital.