Against the backdrop of Ukrainian forces launching a counteroffensive in the south, there has been an uptick in reports of assassination attempts targeting collaborationist and Russian-appointed officials in the occupied territories. According to Meduza’s tally, nearly a dozen of Moscow’s proxies have been killed since March and a number of others have been hospitalized with injuries after surviving apparent attempts on their lives. Here are the attacks that have been reported so far.
Kherson region
March 20 — Pavel Slobodchikov, an assistant to the Moscow-installed regional head Volodymyr Saldo, was shot dead in a car near his home in the city of Kherson.
April 20 — Pro-Russian blogger Valerii Kuleshov, an assistant to the Russian-appointed deputy regional head Kirill Stremousov, was shot dead in Kherson.
June 18 — Yevhen Soboliev, a collaborationist prison warden who was appointed head of the regional penitentiary service by the Russian occupation administration, was hospitalized after being wounded in car bombing in Kherson.
June 22 — In Chornobaivka, Russian-installed village head Yurii Turulov sustained minor injuries from a car explosion.
June 24 — The head of the Kherson occupation administration’s department of families, youth, and sport, Dmitry Savluchenko, was killed in a car blast.
July 7 — Collaborationist deputy police chief Serhii Tomko was shot dead in his car in Nova Kakhovka.
August 4 — The Russian-installed head of the Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, was hospitalized in Moscow due to suspected poisoning.
August 6 — The deputy head of the Nova Kakhovka occupation administration, Vitaly Gura, was shot in his home. Gura was hospitalized with serious injuries and later died while being medevaced to Crimea.
August 22 — A car belonging to Igor Telegin, the deputy head of the occupation administration’s domestic policy department, was blown up in Kherson. Telegin survived the assassination attempt.
August 29 — Ex-Ukrainian lawmaker turned collaborationist official Alexey Kovalev was found dead in his home in the town of Hola Prystan. Kovalev’s body had a gunshot wound to the head. In June, Kovalev was hospitalized with injuries after surviving a car bombing.
Zaporizhzhia region
May 22 — The Moscow-appointed mayor of occupied Enerhodar, Andrey Shevchik, was hospitalized following an explosion outside of his home.
July 11 — Occupation authorities in the city of Melitopol reported an assassination attempt on Andriy Sihuta, the collaborationist head of the Melitopol district administration. Sihuta was not harmed.
August 12 — An explosion in Melitopol injured Oleg Shostak, one of the leaders of the United Russia party’s electoral headquarters.
August 24 — The head of the occupation administration in the village of Mykhailivka, Ivan Sushko, was killed by a car bomb.
August 26 — The deputy chief of traffic police in Russian-occupied Berdyansk, Alexander Kolesnikov, died from shrapnel wounds following an explosion near a local health center.
August 27 — Collaborationist chief of police Andrii Ryzhkov was found hanged in occupied Mykhailivka.
Kharkiv region
July 10 — The Russian-appointed head of occupied Velykyi Burluk, Yevhen Yunakov, was killed as a result of a car explosion that took place near the local administration building.
Luhansk region
March 2 — Former lawmaker and pro-Russian Mayor of Kreminna Volodymyr Struk was found dead following reports that he had been abducted.
Donetsk region
August 20 — A homemade bomb was detonated at the entrance to a zoo in Mariupol in an apparent attempt to assassinate Russian-appointed mayor Konstantin Ivashchenko. No one was injured.
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