Ukraine today claimed a revenge strike 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 Ivanovo region, said Kyiv military intelligence.
This came on a day Ukraine mounted its biggest drone attack of the war on the region surrounding St Petersburg, with a blast causing a major fire at Ust-Luga port, more than 620 miles from the nearest Kyiv-controlled territory.
Nagayko was dubbed a ‘war criminal’ by Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency over an October 2023 strike on a cafe in Groza, Kharkiv region where 59 people including a boy, eight, were killed in an Iskander missile onslaught.
After the explosion, ‘the victim has multiple fragmentary lesions in virtually all organs, including the brain — he underwent a skull trepanation’, said the GUR.
‘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 is the latest in a series of strikes by Ukraine on people they regard as key figures in Vladimir Putin’s invasion strategy.
Russian Captain Konstantin Nagayko was left in a ‘critical condition’ following a revenge attack by Ukraine
The assassination bid came on the day of Ukraine’s biggest drone attack of the war on the region surrounding St Petersburg, with a blast causing a major fire at Ust-Luga port (pictured)
The captain was described as 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 missile strikes on Ukraine’s Sumy region.
Further details of the assassination bid were not immediately available.
Separately, Ukraine attacked the strategic Ust-Luga port and other targets in Leningrad region which surrounds Russia’s second city St Petersburg.
A video showed a giant explosion in the port.
The October 2023 strike on a cafe in Groza, Kharkiv region where 59 people including a boy, eight, were killed in an Iskander missile onslaught
A fire was later seen burning at the key shipping hub which processes fuel used to supply Russian forces on the frontlines.
Restrictions were imposed on the takeoff and landing of aircraft at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, its air defences shot down 26 drones over the Leningrad, Pskov, Kursk, Voronezh, Smolensk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions.
The ministry vowed revenge over the use of American-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles by Ukraine to attack targets in Russia’s Belgorod region.
