Russian missile chief fights for his life following Ukrainian revenge assassination bid after his forces killed 59 in cafe rocket attack
Ukraine today claimed a revenge attack on a Russian missile brigade commander whose forces “killed 59 people in a cafe attack” in 2023.
Captain Konstantin Nagayko, 29, was in a “critical condition” after an explosion in the Ivanovo region, Kiev’s military intelligence said.
This came on a day when Ukraine carried out its largest drone attack of the war on the St. Petersburg region, with an explosion causing a major fire in the port of Ust-Luga, more than 600 miles from the nearest Kiev-controlled area.
Nagayko was named a “war criminal” by Ukraine’s military intelligence service GUR over an October 2023 attack on a cafe in Groza, Kharkov region, where 59 people, including an eight-year-old boy, were killed in an Iskander rocket attack.
After the explosion, “the victim has multiple fragmentary lesions in almost all organs, including the brain – he underwent cranial trepanation,” the GUR said.
“His condition is critical.”
The agency said: “He was on duty in his military unit, and now [he is at] at death’s door
If the attack on Nagayko is confirmed, it would be the latest in a series of attacks by Ukraine on people it considers key figures in Vladimir Putin’s invasion strategy.
Russian captain Konstantin Nagayko was left in a ‘critical condition’ after a revenge attack by Ukraine
The assassination attempt came on the day of Ukraine’s largest drone attack in the war on the St. Petersburg region, with an explosion causing a major fire in the port of Ust-Luga (pictured)
The captain was described as a battery commander of the division of the 112th missile brigade of the 1st Tank Army of the Western Military District of the Russian Federation – military unit 03333.
He was accused of involvement in rocket attacks on the Ukrainian region of Sumy.
Further details about the murder bid were not immediately available.
In addition, Ukraine attacked the strategic Ust-Luga port and other targets in the Leningrad region, which surrounds Russia’s second city St. Petersburg.
A video showed a gigantic explosion in the port.
The October 2023 attack on a cafe in Groza, Kharkov region, in which 59 people, including an eight-year-old boy, were killed in an Iskander rocket attack
A fire was later seen in the main shipping hub that handles fuel used to supply Russian troops on the front line.
Restrictions were imposed on aircraft take-offs and landings at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, air defenses shot down 26 drones over the Leningrad, Pskov, Kursk, Voronezh, Smolensk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions.
The ministry has vowed revenge over Ukraine’s use of US-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles to attack targets in Russia’s Belgorod region.