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.