Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich, commander of Russia's 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division and a key figure in Russia's strategic bomber force, is in critical condition following a suspected assassination attempt. Varpakhovich was shot in the head and abdomen by an assailant on a motorcycle outside his home in the village of Probuzhdeniye, located in the Engels district. The attack occurred on September 3, 2026.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has accused Varpakhovich of ordering the July 8, 2024, strike on Kyiv's Okhmatdyt children's hospital, an attack that resulted in two deaths and dozens of injuries. The European Union has also sanctioned Varpakhovich, identifying him as the commander of the Engels-2 airbase-based division responsible for the strike. He has also been blamed for a previous Kh-101 missile strike on an Odesa apartment block in April 2022, which killed eight people, and an attack on the Kyiv television tower.
Bullets were removed from Varpakhovich at a local hospital, and he was subsequently prepared for transfer to Moscow via a medical evacuation flight. The attack on Varpakhovich follows a series of incidents targeting senior Russian military commanders, attributed by some reports to Ukrainian intelligence. These include the shooting of GRU deputy chief Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev in February, and the deaths of Lt. Gens. Igor Kirillov, Yaroslav Moskalik, and Fanil Sarvarov in bombings between December 2024 and December 2025.