A senior Russian commander was killed by a bomb blast, in a major blow to Putin’s army.
The explosive device was delivered in a parcel to Captain Konstantin Nagayko, who was with his unit in the town of Shuya in Russia’s Ivanovo region.
Nagayko was the commander of Russia’s 112th Missile Brigade, which has been involved in attacks on Ukraine.
The incident happened on January 3rd, but his death has only now been confirmed by Russia’s Ministry of Defence.
The Captain sustained serious injuries in the blast and was initially taken to Shuya’s Central District Hospital.
However, surgeons were unable to treat his wounds due to their severity, and the commander was transferred by air ambulance to a medical facility in Ivanovo.
He underwent an emergency operation, during which surgeons performed a craniotomy, but eventually succumbed to his injuries.
Nagayko and his unit were involved in a brutal attack on a cafe in the village of Hroza in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region during a funeral reception in 2023.
As a result of the attack, 59 people, including children, were killed. Locals had been attending a memorial service for a slain Ukrainian soldier.
In a statement, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said: “”Captain Konstantin Nagayko, a war criminal and battery commander of the 112th Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces (military unit 03333), has died.
“Russian surgery was of no help to the war criminal. The Ukrainian people will see just retribution for every war crime committed against them.”
Under Nagayko’s command, the unit was responsible for launching multiple rocket attacks using Iskander ballistic missiles on civilian and military targets in Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
His assassination is just one in a spate of such incidents that has shaken Putin and his Kremlin elites.
Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and an aide were killed when explosives planted on his scooter detonated in December.
Kirillov headed Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection forces and had been accused of authorising and overseeing the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Then, at the beginning of February, a pro-Putin militia leader from Ukraine died after a bomb exploded in the foyer of an apartment block in Moscow where he was staying.
