Senior Russian Military Officer Killed in Suspected Assassination Attack in Crimea

Mascow (Terror Monitor) — A senior Russian military officer, identified as Robert Mansurovich Shageev, was killed in what Russian authorities described as a planned assassination attack in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by Russia.

According to Reuters reports from Moscow on Thursday, August 13, the officer’s death was confirmed by Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev. The governor said the attack took place on Thursday, while Russian investigators described it as a premeditated assassination.

The attack occurred in Sevastopol, the largest city on the Crimean Peninsula.

Russian authorities said a suspected female attacker had been detained in connection with the killing. According to Russian officials, she allegedly carried out the attack on the instructions of Ukrainian special forces. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian government in Kyiv.

Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported that Razvozhayev confirmed the arrest of the suspected attacker but did not disclose her identity.

Meanwhile, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officials told TASS that the suspect is a Russian citizen who allegedly targeted Robert Mansurovich Shageev with assistance from Ukrainian special forces.

Russia has previously accused Ukraine of being behind the killings of several senior Russian military officials and other prominent figures linked directly or indirectly to Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

In a separate incident in Sevastopol, five people were killed overnight between Wednesday and Thursday during an operation to defuse a bomb, according to Russian authorities.