Joshua Thurston
September 3, 2026
The Times
A Russian general accused by Kyiv of orchestrating an attack on a Ukrainian children’s hospital is said to have been seriously injured after being shot in southwestern Russia.
Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich, the commander of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of the Russian Aerospace Forces, was hit in the head and abdomen, according to Russian media reports.
They said that an unidentified motorcyclist wearing a helmet approached a private house belonging to a Russian military officer and fired several shots at Varpakhovich in Engels, Saratov Oblast.
The first bullet hit Varpakhovich in the torso and the second in the face; the driver of a military vehicle was also injured in the attack, SotaVision reported.
Varpakhovich was alive but in a critical condition and was being prepared for transport to Moscow by a special aircraft, the Russian independent news outlet said.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed it had gathered evidence implicating Varpakhovich in missile strikes on the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv. “The investigation established that on July 8, 2024, the officer [Varpakhovich] issued a combat order to carry out a missile strike on the “Okhmatdyt” National Children’s Specialised Hospital in Kyiv,” an SBU statement said.
The precision strike on the medical facility used a Kh-101 air-to-ground cruise missile, which was launched from a Russian Tu-95MS missile-carrying bomber, according to the security service. “At the time of the attack, there were over 600 patients in the hospital. Two people were killed, including a doctor, and dozens more were injured. The missile completely destroyed the toxicology wing and damaged four other buildings where surgical operations were being performed, and children with cancer were being treated,” the SBU reported.
Varpakhovich is also one of five Russian generals that Ukraine charged in absentia for a strike on Kryvyi Rih, President Zelensky’s home town, in 2023 that killed eight people and injured three.
“According to the investigation, they were the ones who planned, co-ordinated and gave combat orders to destroy civilian objects that were not of military importance,” the Office of the Attorney-General wrote on Telegram. “On the night of June 13, 2023, at around 3.10am, Russian Armed Forces servicemen launched two Kh-101 cruise missiles at Kryvyi Rih. One of them hit the warehouses of a wholesale food base, where employees of the enterprise were at that time.”
In February 2024, Major Oleg Stegachev, the commander of a crew of a Tu-95 strategic bomber allegedly involved in attacks against Ukraine, was shot dead in Engels, which is home to an airbase from which missile strikes are launched. “All war criminals will be held accountable. We know your names, addresses, car numbers, usual routes, and habits,” Ukrainian intelligence said at the time.
The attack on Varpakhovich would be the third assassination attempt on Russian officers in recent weeks.
A Russian military serviceman was killed in a car bomb in St Petersburg on August 27, according to reports. It has also been reported that a former Ukrainian submarine commander, Captain 1st Rank Robert Shageev, who switched sides to Russia in 2014, was killed in an explosion in Sevastopol on August 13.
Joshua Thurston is homepage reporter who reports on breaking news for The Times, covering a range of both Home and World news. He has also written for The Sunday Times. He has lived in London and Tokyo.