By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2026-09-03 13:22:22 | Updated at 2026-09-03 14:01:02
1 hour ago
A Russian nuclear bomber commander who is accused of ordering a strike on a Ukrainian children’s hospital was shot in the head in a suspected drive-by assassination attempt Thursday.
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.
The commander, who is in charge of Putin’s nuclear-capable strategic bombers at the nearby Engels airbase, is blamed by Ukrainian security services for multiple atrocities during the conflict.
Varpakhovich was officially named as one of two Russian commanders accused of war crimes by Ukraine’s SBU security service in late August, reported Kanal 24.
The major general is suspected of involvement in an April 28 attack on Uman othat killed 24 people.
He is also accused of ordering an airstrike on a Kyiv children’s hospital on July 8, 2024, which killed two people and wounded dozens.
Varpakhovich is also blamed for a strike on an apartment block in Odesa that killed eight people, including a three-month-old infant, a mother, and a grandmother.
Russian security services haven’t named a suspect in the shooting, the latest violent attack on one of its military top brass.
On Aug. 27, a car carrying a Russian Air Force lieutenant colonel exploded in St. Petersburg, killing the soldier instantly and seriously wounding his wife, who was riding in the car.
Ukraine did not claim responsibility for the assassination, but its security forces have been shown to have the capability to operate far beyond the front lines of the war and deep into Russian territory, said Petro Andryushchenko, director of the Center for the Study of Occupation, in a recent interview with Kanal 24.
