Ukraine’s Security Service reportedly behind assassination attempt on pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Oleg Tsaryov

An assassination attempt on Oleg Tsaryov, former member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada and a prominent figure in the Donbas separatist movement, is attributed to a “special operation” by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), as reported by BBC News Ukrainian, Ukrainska Pravda, and Ukrinform, citing a source in the SBU.

“He’s been on the list of traitors who must answer for their crimes for a long time. Tsaryov is a perfectly legitimate target. He’s not just a fanatic of the ‘Russian world,’ but a man who personally came with Russian tanks to capture Kyiv,” the source said.

On October 27, Russian media reported that Tsaryov had been attacked in Yalta, in Russian-occupied Crimea. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has initiated a criminal investigation. In 2022, Ukraine sentenced Tsaryov in absentia to 12 years imprisonment for his role in the Russian-backed separatist movement in 2014–2015.