A Russian general was injured by a cell phone bomb on Sunday in what some outlets have described as a failed assassination attempt by Ukrainian operatives.
Major-General Yuri Afanasevskii, 64, was a former chairman of the State Customs Committee of the breakaway Russian-backed Luhansk People’s Republic, according to the New York Post, which cited reports from the Kyiv-based outlet RBC-Ukraine and from the Russian state-run outlet TASS.
Russian general in Ukraine blown up by bomb-rigged cellphone in failed assassination plot https://t.co/mKriJXTO68 pic.twitter.com/btWYDyFU97
— New York Post (@nypost) September 5, 2023
The phone detonated as soon as it was activated, Russia’s Investigative Committee said, per the outlet.
Afanasevskii was rushed to the hospital with shrapnel wounds to his head, neck, and stomach, leaving him in intensive care, RBC-Ukraine reported. The outlet also claimed to have learned from sources inside the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) that Ukrainian agents were behind the attack.
The general’s 21-year-old son was also injured, losing three fingers as a result, according to TASS. (RELATED: Ukraine Announces Major Gov’t Shakeup As Counteroffensive Struggles).
Authorities have detained a female suspect who has already confessed to the crime, TASS reported.