Bomb kills Russian military officer in Crimea; reports name him as defector from Ukraine

A Russian military officer was killed in a ⁠bomb attack on Thursday in Russian-annexed Crimea, and a woman was arrested on suspicion of assassinating him on behalf of Ukrainian special services, the regional governor said.

A Russian military officer was killed in a ⁠bomb attack on Thursday in Russian-annexed Crimea, and a woman was arrested on suspicion of assassinating him on behalf of Ukrainian special services, the regional governor said.

There ⁠was no immediate ​comment ⁠from Ukraine.

Several unofficial Russian Telegram channels named the victim as Robert Shageyev, whom they ⁠described as a former Ukrainian naval officer who ​switched ⁠allegiance to Russia during Moscow’s ‌annexation of Crimea in 2014. They said he had been commanding the Ukrainian submarine Zaporizhzhia ‌at the time.

Myrotvorets, an unofficial ‌Ukrainian website that provides a database of people described as war criminals or traitors, said Shageyev had been “liquidated”. The attack ⁠took place in Sevastopol, the biggest city in Russian-annexed Crimea. The regional governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev, did not identify the victim or the suspect.

State news agency TASS quoted the FSB security service as saying the arrested woman was a Russian national. Russia ‌has blamed Ukraine for a string of ​previous assassinations of senior military officials ‌and people linked to Moscow’s ⁠war effort. Ukrainian sources have claimed responsibility in ⁠some cases, while denying others. Separately, Razvozhayev said five people ‌were killed ​in Sevastopol overnight during an ‌operation to dispose of ​an explosive device.