REVENGE BLAST
Ukraine revenge strike leaves Russian commander, 29, who oversaw deaths of 59 in cafe attack fighting for his life
It is the latest in a series of strikes by Ukraine targeting top Russian officials
A TOP Russian missile commander is fighting for his life after being blitzed by a Ukrainian revenge strike, Kyiv has claimed.
Captain Konstantin Nagayko, 29, was left in a "critical condition" after the strike hit Russia's Ivanovo region, according to Ukrainian military intelligence.
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The attack is the latest in a series of strikes by Ukraine targeting top Russian officials who are close to tyrant Vladimir Putin.
It is said that Nagayko, who Kyiv has accused of war crimes, had to go through extensive surgeries after "all his vital organs were damaged".
A top official from Ukraine's GUR intelligence said: "[Nagayko] has multiple fragmentary lesions in virtually all organs, including the brain. He underwent a skull trepanation.
"He was on duty in his military unit, and now [he is at] death's door. His condition is critical."
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Ukraine claims Nagayko was behind the October 2023 missile strike on a cafe in Kharkiv that killed 59 people.
The captain was described as battery commander of the division of the 112th missile brigade of the 1st tank army of the Western Military District of the Russian Federation
The revenge strike comes after Ukraine reportedly blitzed the region surrounding St Petersburg with one of the biggest drone attacks since the beginning of the war.
Ukraine also reportedly attacked the strategic Ust-Luga port and other targets in the Leningrad region.
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Footage from the reported strike shows a giant explosion at the port.
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A fire was later seen burning at the key shipping hub which processes fuel used to supply Russian forces on the frontlines.
Restrictions were imposed on the takeoff and landing of aircraft at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg.
Russian Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 26 drones over the Leningrad, Pskov, Kursk, Voronezh, Smolensk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions.
The ministry vowed revenge over the use of American-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles by Ukraine to attack targets in Russia’s Belgorod region.
UKRAINIAN 'ASSASSINATIONS'
Russia has claimed that Ukraine has carried out a series of targeted assassinations since the beginning of the war in February 2022.
General Igor Kirillov, 54, was killed after a bomb in his electric scooter blew him up outside his Moscow apartment.
Dramatic footage shows the moment the device detonated just seconds after the general and his assistant Ilya Polikarpov left his home.
Some 200g of TNT stuck to the scooter is believed to have been detonated remotely.
The FSB claims Kurbanov was offered $100,000 and European passports to carry out the assassination by Kyiv.
Volodymyr Zelensky's office later denied Ukrainian involvement in Kirillov's death.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president's office, said: "Ukraine does not use methods of terrorist formats.
It comes after Darya Dugina, 30, the daughter of Alexander Dugin, dubbed "Putin's Rasputin" was killed in a car bomb attack.
In 2023 military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed in a bombing attack in a café in central St Petersburg.
Another 30 people were injured in the attack.
Daria Trepova, 26, who reportedly handed him a gold TNT-laden figurine of himself. now faces 20 years behind bars.
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Meanwhile, naval captain Stanislav Rzhitsky, 42, was shot dead after a hitman tracked him down using a popular fitness app
He was jogging through the Russian city of Krasnodar when he was gunned down.
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