RUSSIA CLAIMS SUSPECT CAPTURED AFTER ATTEMPT ON GENERAL LINKED TO OKHMATDYT STRIKE
We covered the shooting when it happened on September 3. Now Russia’s FSB claims it has detained the alleged gunman in the Astrakhan region while he was attempting to leave the country.
Russian authorities identify the suspect as Nicolae Coju, a 21-year-old Moldovan citizen. The FSB claims he fired at least six shots at a senior military officer in the Saratov region after receiving the target’s address, a weapon and instructions through Telegram. It further alleges that Ukrainian intelligence recruited and trained him and promised $70,000 for the operation. These details come entirely from the FSB and have not been independently verified.
Moscow still has not officially identified the wounded officer. However, Russian media previously reported that the target was Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich, commander of Russia’s 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division. He reportedly survived but was hospitalized with serious wounds.
Ukraine’s Security Service accuses Varpakhovich of ordering the July 8, 2024, Kh-101 missile strike on Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt children’s hospital. His division was also linked by Ukrainian investigators to the April 2023 attack on an apartment building in Uman that killed 24 people
Whether every detail of the FSB’s new account proves true remains to be seen. What is unmistakable is the shadow cast by those attacks. Officers who order missiles launched at children’s hospitals and apartment buildings may believe distance and rank will protect them forever.
Call it karma or the long reach of accountability: those responsible for terror should never assume that its victims will forget.