Ukraine nabs suspect in murder and bombing spree targeting top Kharkiv officials
Ukrainian authorities have detained a Russian agent suspected of murdering a soldier, orchestrating bombings, and plotting to assassinate Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleg Synegubov for a $50,000 reward promised by Russia’s FSB Federal Security Service, the Prosecutor General's Office and the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office reported.
The prosecutors disclosed the arrest of a Crimea-born man, previously convicted multiple times, who embraced Russian ideology and began collaborating with the FSB after moving to Belgorod in 2015.
In February 2024, he arrived in Kharkiv to execute his first mission: the murder of a Ukrainian soldier. In March, he shot the serviceman in the back near a residential building, killing him instantly.
Emboldened, he then bombed the entrance of the Shevchenkivskyi District Administration and the doors of a Medical-Social Expert Commission unit in Kharkiv on his own initiative.
The suspect escalated his campaign with an attempt on Derhachi Town Military Administration Head Vyacheslav Zadorenko in October, planting explosives under his car—only for Zadorenko to spot the device and escape unharmed.
His next target was Oleg Synegubov, head of the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, with Russia offering $50,000 for the hit.
Planning to bomb the governor’s vehicle, he delayed the attack as law enforcement closed in, instead setting fire to two military vehicles in Kharkiv.
On October 31, 2024, he attempted to flee the city by train but was apprehended by police.
Facing charges of treason, premeditated contract killing for profit, sabotage, terrorism, and illegal weapons possession, the suspect—currently held without bail—could spend life in prison.
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