Russian Commander Behind Deadly Strike on Ukraine Funeral Killed in Blast

A Russian officer who commanded a unit that fired a missile which killed dozens of people at a memorial service, has died of injuries from a bomb blast, Ukrainian military intelligence has said.

Ukraine said that Captain Konstantin Nagaiko had received multiple injuries on January 3 following an explosion in Shuya, in Russia’s Ivanovo region.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.

Why It Matters

The statement by Ukraine’s military intelligence gave no details of the operation it says killed the captain but its report outlines the extent of Kyiv’s targeting of sites on Russian territory and push to avenge those it accuses of war crimes.

What To Know

Ukraine’s military intelligence said Nagaiko, 29, from the city of Svobodny, in Russia’s Amur Region, who commanded a battery of the 112th division of Russia’s missile brigade, was involved in an explosion on January 3.

At the time, it issued a statement which said he had suffered injuries to virtually all his organs including his brain and underwent a craniotomy. In a statement on February 8, Ukraine said that Nagaiko had died from his injuries.

Ukraine’s military noted how he had commanded a division that killed 59 people in the village of Groza, in the Kharkiv region with an Iskander missile on October 5, 2023, which hit a store and a cafe where a wake was taking place for a soldier killed in action.

The soldier’s widow, son, who was also a soldier, and daughter-in-law were among those killed in the attack, as was a 6-year-old boy. The death toll amounted to 10 percent of the village’s pre-war population.

The attack was condemned as showing the appalling brutality Vladimir Putin’s forces were displaying towards Ukrainian citizens in their full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had condemned the attack as “a completely deliberate act of terrorism.” It was thought to be the deadliest Russian attack on Ukrainian civilians since an attack in the eastern city of Kramatorsk in April 2022 in which at least 50 people were killed.

Ukraine’s interior minister Ihor Klymenko said that every household in the village had been impacted by the “terrible tragedy.”

What People Are Saying

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence said in a statement: “Captain Konstantin Nagaiko, involved in war crimes against Ukraine, died in Russia…There will be fair retribution for every war crime against the Ukrainian people.”

What Happens Next

Ukraine’s statement did not reveal details of the strike which killed the Russian commander but suggests that Kyiv will continue to target sites and personnel in Russian territory.