Military intelligence reports assassination attempt on Russian military pilot
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Oleg Stegachev, the crew commander of a Russian Tu-95 strategic bomber, was shot in the Russian city of Engels, Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) reported on Feb. 3.
Russia has regularly used the Engels air base, which is located around 730 kilometers southeast of Moscow and hundreds of kilometers from Ukraine, to attack Ukraine with aircraft carrying cruise missiles.
Stegachev, born in 1983, has served at the Engels air base and has been directly involved in strikes on Ukrainian civilian sites, HUR said on Telegram.
The military intelligence agency is still clarifying whether Stegachev survived the attack.
HUR didn't claim responsibility for the assassination attempt but hinted that it was involved.
"We remind you that retribution awaits all war criminals - we know your names, addresses, car numbers, usual routes and habits," the agency said.
In December, Illia Kyva, a pro-Russian former lawmaker in the Ukrainian parliament, was found dead in Moscow Oblast. According to the Kyiv Independent's source in law enforcement, he was assassinated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Kyva openly supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, disseminating Russian propaganda through his Telegram channel.
