A Russian general named Nikolai Varpakhovich has reportedly survived an assassination attempt which seems to have originated in Ukraine. The attack took place at this home in Engels, Russia, which is more than 900 miles from Ukraine. Varpakhovich is the general in charge of Russia's long-range bombers.
Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich, 56, was shot outside his home in Saratov, southwest Russia, by an unidentified assassin on a motorbike, reported Svoboda, the Russian-language service of US government-funded Radio Free Europe.
Varpakhovich, a close ally of Vladimir Putin and commander of Russia’s 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, was struck with two bullets, one in the face and one in the torso, reported Kanal 24, a Ukrainian news outlet.
The commander’s driver was also wounded but managed to call for an ambulance, the reports said.
Varpakhovich was left in critical condition and was flown to Moscow on a medical evacuation flight, the report said.
He was alive after the shooting but there's been no word since except to say he's in critical condition. The assassin got away, at least so far. Here's a photo of the general.
⚡️❗️BREAKING: An assassination attempt was made this morning on Major General Nikolai Nikolayevich Varpakhovich, commander of Russia’s 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of the Aerospace Forces’ Long-Range Aviation.
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) September 3, 2026
The attack took place at around 07:00 near his home in… pic.twitter.com/T4HjV0srFh
Varpakhovich is especially hated in Ukraine because he's been held responsible for a 2024 bombing attack that struck a children's hospital in Kyiv.
Varpakhovich has been accused by Ukraine of ordering a missile strike against Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt hospital in July 2024.
The attack killed three people – one of them a child who was wounded in the strike and died a few days later – and injured dozens others. Several of the hospital’s departments, including the intensive care units, the oncology and surgical wings, the toxicology and trauma center, were damaged or destroyed.
The hospital said afterwards that hundreds of patients and staff were evacuated when the air raid alarm was raised indicating an incoming an strike. But some, including three patients undergoing a heart surgery, were still there when the missile hit about an hour later...
The Security Service of Ukraine and the country’s Prosecutor General formally charged him with war crimes three days ago, saying he ordered the long-range aviation units under his command to launch a Kh-101 air-to-ground cruise missile against the hospital.
Ukraine hasn't officially taken responsibility for the attack, which is the norm. Several other Russian generals have been assassinated since the start of the war.
Igor Kirillov, a general in charge of the Russian military’s nuclear and chemical weapons protection forces, was killed in December 2024 when an explosive device planted on a scooter was detonated near him.
Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operational department of the General Staff and Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, who ran the armed forces operational training department, were both killed in car explosions in Moscow last year.
Despite not formally claiming responsibility, President Zelensky did reference the attack during a speech today. "The Russian criminals did not hide - they will be found. And today brings another confirmation of this fact, a confirmation in the Saratov region," he said. Engels, the city where Varpakhovich was shot, is located in the Saratov region.
Meanwhile, Russia's chief propagandist seems to have forgotten all about Ukraine and is urging attacks on NATO members including Britain, Finland, Norway and Germany. Forget the hybrid warfare that allows Russia to hide behind plausible deniability. Solovyov is ready to invade Norway and seize any property that belongs to Germany (inside Russia). "A war is underway anyhow," he said.
The best you can say about Putin is that he's not quite as crazy as this guy.
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