In Kyiv, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed the head of military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov as his new chief of staff Friday, following the resignation of Andrii Yermak after a corruption scandal over a month ago.

The talks to test a fragile peace effort as Moscow and Kiev exchange claims over attacks and stalled negotiations.

Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate at the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, was named as the high-ranking officer killed in the explosion. He oversees combat training for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russia’s nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system has entered active service in Belarus, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday, as the U.S. efforts to broker a deal to end the nearly four-year war

That posture was on display this week when Iran announced that three of its domestically designed satellites were launched into orbit aboard a Russian rocket. The launch was broadcast by Iran’s Arabic-language state television channel Al-Alam News Network, which aired footage showing the satellites lifting off from Russian territory.

The attack appeared to be the latest targeted assassination of a senior military official inside Russia’s borders.

Russia filed a formal diplomatic request that the United States stop pursuing an oil tanker originally bound for Venezuela that has evaded US custody for almost two weeks, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Russian intelligence services had long hunted Kapustin, placing a $500,000 price on his head. After news broke of his supposed assassination, Moscow paid out the bounty, not realising the money