Russian general linked to strike on Kyiv's Okhmatdyt hospital shot – Russian media

An assassination attempt was made on the morning of 3 September in the village of Probuzhdeniye, Engels district, Russia's Saratov Oblast, against a military officer who commanded the Russian missile strike on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv in July 2024. He is reportedly in a critical condition.

Source: Russian media outlet Astra; Telegram channel Mash; Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency TASS, citing Russia's Investigative Committee; Security Service of Ukraine (SSU); Telegram channel Dosye Shpiona (Spy Dossier)

Quote from Mash: "The assassination attempt took place in the village of Probuzhdeniye in the morning. The shooter rode up to a house on a motorcycle wearing a helmet and opened fire: one bullet struck the victim in the torso and another in the face. The military officer's driver was also wounded but managed to escape and hide before returning and calling an ambulance. The bullets were removed from the victim at hospital. He is currently being prepared for transfer to Moscow by a special flight."

Details: Dosye Shpiona reported that at around 07:00, Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich, commander of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of the Russian Aerospace Forces, was shot. He is reportedly in a critical condition.

Astra reported that the village of Probuzhdeniye in Saratov Oblast is listed as one of Varpakhovich's addresses.

The attacker has not yet been detained. Russia's regional Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case over an attempt on the life of a serviceman.

Meanwhile, on 31 August, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that two Russian military officials had been served with notices of suspicion in absentia over their involvement in missile strikes on Reuters journalists in Donetsk Oblast and the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv. Varpakhovich was one of the suspects.

The investigation established that it was Varpakhovich who gave the combat order to carry out the missile strike on the Okhmatdyt National Children's Specialised Hospital on 8 July 2024. Long-range aviation units under his command carried out a targeted strike on the hospital with a Kh-101 air-to-surface cruise missile launched from a Russian Tu-95MS strategic bomber.

Background:

• At the time of the attack on Okhmatdyt, more than 600 patients were in the hospital. Two people were killed, including a doctor, and dozens of others were injured.
• The missile completely destroyed the toxicology building and damaged four other buildings where surgical procedures were performed and seriously ill children were treated.
• More recently, on 27 August, a car belonging to a Russian serviceman listed in the Myrotvorets database exploded in St Petersburg. His unit had been accused of attacks on Ukrainian civilians.

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