A senior Russian air force commander was shot twice at close range in the Saratov region on Wednesday morning, in the latest of a series of attacks against Russian military officers on its territory. An unidentified gunman on a motorbike fired twice at the officer as he was leaving a shop in the village of Probuzhdeniye in Engels district and fled. One bullet struck him in the face, the other in the torso.
He was taken to hospital in serious condition before being airlifted to Moscow for further treatment. Telegram military blogger channels identified the injured man as Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich, commander of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of Russia's long-range aviation branch. Russian authorities have not officially identified him.
The ASTRA Telegram channel noted that Probuzhdeniye is listed as one of Varpakhovich's registered addresses. The city of Engels — some 850 kilometres from Moscow — hosts the Engels-2 airbase, one of Russia's most significant strategic aviation facilities. Varpakhovich has been charged in absentia by Ukrainian authorities over the 8 July 2024 missile strike on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv.
Ukrainian investigators said he ordered the attack, which resulted in a Kh-101 cruise missile striking the hospital. Two people were killed and more than 30 injured, including nine children. The building was partially destroyed.
Ukraine's Health Ministry said 627 children were receiving treatment at the hospital at the time of the strike. Ukraine's Security Service published a statement on 31 August saying it had compiled evidence against two Russian military officials. The second is Colonel Aleksandr Lutovinov, commander of a missile brigade in the 49th Combined Arms Army, who investigators said organised the 24 August 2024 missile strike on the Sapphire hotel complex in Kramatorsk.
A security adviser for news agency was killed in that attack, and five journalists were wounded. The shooting in Engels is part of a series of gun and bomb attacks involving Russian military figures that has grown in recent weeks. On 1 August, five people were killed and at least 19 wounded in an explosion at the Balzi Rossi restaurant in Moscow.
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