A former Ukrainian submarine commander who defected to Russia was killed Thursday in Sevastopol, Crimea, by a bomb hidden in a trash bin, according to Russian authorities. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) alleges that a 32-year-old Russian woman, whose identity has not been released, was acting on instructions from Ukrainian intelligence.
The explosive device detonated around 10 a.m. as Robert Shageev, a former officer in Russia's Black Sea Fleet, walked past the trash bin. The blast was reportedly loud enough that local residents mistook it for a drone strike. The suspected bomber was apprehended and has allegedly confessed to the killing, with Russian officials claiming she showed no remorse and acted on Ukrainian special services' instructions. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Kremlin-installed governor of Sevastopol, stated this in a release.
Shageev, who originally served in the Ukrainian navy, defected to Russia in 2014 following the annexation of Crimea. At the time, he was the acting commander of the Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine's sole submarine. Ukraine had sought Shageev for high treason for his actions during the 2014 invasion. He was accused of serving in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with his fleet reportedly involved in submarine-launched missile attacks.
In a separate incident overnight in Sevastopol, five Russian emergency service workers were killed while attempting to dispose of a Ukrainian bomb, Razvozhayev also reported. He stated that the workers were inspecting the area after a Ukrainian attack when the munition detonated.