BUTCHER of Kyiv Gets Assassinated

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Become a Member Today and Unlock EXCLUSIVE Videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKfak8fBm_Lhy4eX9UKxEpA/join  Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich, commander of Russia's 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, was shot and critically wounded in a motorcycle drive-by near Engels on September 3, 2026. Responsible for ordering strategic cruise missile strikes—including the attack on Kyiv's Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital—Varpakhovich was targeted days after being charged in absentia by Ukraine's SBU. Discover how this targeted assassination highlights growing security vulnerabilities across Russia's strategic airfields and officer corps.  ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich Shot in Engels 01:45 - Varpakhovich's Role in Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital Missile Strike 04:46 - Details of the September 3 Motorcycle Ambush in Probuzhdeniye 07:19 - Kremlin Information Blackout & Zelenskyy's Coded Statements 09:50 - Engels Strategic Airbase Compromised by Drone & Direct Attacks 12:22 - The Pattern of Targeted Assassinations Against Russian Commanders 14:40 - Internal Purges & Suspicious Deaths of Russian Security Officials 15:33 - FSB Incompetence & Ineffective Kremlin Security Directives  Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join  #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow  SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/kaGMkCP8

Transcript

00:01He was the general who crossed an unforgivable line in Ukraine.

00:05When a children's hospital was attacked with cruise missiles,

00:08it was this man who gave the order for the strike to go ahead.

00:12A true butcher and a man who is as lauded in Russia as he is hated in Ukraine.

00:17He couldn't be allowed to survive.

00:20Revenge had to be taken and when it finally came,

00:22it was swift, brutal and delivered with the cold hatred a man like this deserves.

00:27The Butcher of Kyiv has just been shot.

00:30Punishment has been delivered.

00:32And it came courtesy of a shooter riding a motorcycle.

00:36As morning calm descended on the town of Engels in Russia's Saratov region on September 3rd,

00:42people woke up and prepared for the day.

00:44But gunshots pierced the quiet.

00:46Those shots were first heard near the private home owned by Major General Nikolai Varpakovich,

00:52News Sky reports.

00:53He is the commander of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

00:59An unknown man riding a motorcycle carried out this very special delivery.

01:03And the bullets from his gun struck the general at least twice, possibly three times.

01:09Varpakovich was shot once in the torso and possibly twice in the face, leading to severe injuries.

01:14Right now, Varpakovich appears to be just about clinging to life in a Russian hospital.

01:19He was reported to be in critical condition following the assassination attempt.

01:23Nothing has been heard since.

01:25For all we know, the Butcher of Kyiv may be dead and Russia is trying to pretend that he's still

01:30alive.

01:30Another assassination attempt has just been made.

01:33And in the case of this particular general, bullets to the face and torso are no less than he deserves.

01:38But before we explain why, if real, human-made military reporting matters to you, subscribe and tell us what you

01:45think below.

01:46You can also become a member for exclusive content while directly supporting the work behind the channel.

01:51On the surface, Varpakovich seems like just another Russian general in an army that contains hundreds of them.

01:57As the commander of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division, he is a major figure in Russian military aviation.

02:04Varpakovich is responsible for overseeing the country's use of strategic bombers, such as the nuclear-capable Tu-160 and Tu

02:11-95MS.

02:12Those bombers also happen to be some of the main carriers of cruise missiles that Russia has spent most of

02:17the war unleashing against Ukraine.

02:19And many of them operate out of the Engels II airbase close to Varpakovich's home.

02:24The mention of those bombers is a massive clue as to why Varpakovich became a target.

02:28He is a butcher.

02:30And he earned that blood-soaked and shameful moniker on July 8th, 2024.

02:35On that date, a Russian cruise missile slammed into the Okhmadit Children's Hospital in Kyiv.

02:41The scant bright spot from this brutal assault is that most of the 600 people who were in the hospital

02:46had been evacuated,

02:48as an air-raid siren warned of the impending attack shortly before the missiles arrived.

02:52But not all patients were able to leave.

02:55Several were in surgery at the time of the strike.

02:57Those procedures couldn't be stopped, else the patients would have died on the table.

03:02Russia didn't care.

03:03Committed to carrying out war crimes long before this strike, Russia attacked the Children's Hospital regardless of who might have

03:09been inside.

03:10By the end of the strike, at least two fatalities had been reported, and dozens more were injured.

03:16Among the dead were a child and doctor, who added to a final tally of 37,

03:20on a day when Russia carried out what former UK Prime Minister Zakir Starmer labelled as the most depraved of

03:27actions.

03:28Five hospital buildings were also destroyed or damaged, along with high-tech medical equipment used to save lives.

03:34It's very possible this Russian attack indirectly led to the deaths of others on top of those who were killed

03:39by the missile.

03:40The outcry was immediate.

03:43But nestled far away in Russia was the man who had given the order to carry out the strike.

03:48Vapakovich was that man.

03:50He had approved the use of a Tu-95MS bomber and the Kh-101 cruise missiles that the bomber fired.

03:56There was nothing accidental about this strike.

03:59The missile Russia used is pre-programmed with coordinates for their target before it's launched and it struck the Kyiv

04:04hospital.

04:05The strike was deliberate, an act of terrorism arranged and approved by a heartless man sitting safely hundreds of kilometers

04:13away.

04:13The attack on the Okhmadit hospital only confirmed what many in Ukraine already knew about Vapakovich and the units that

04:20served under him.

04:20They were more than happy to kill civilians.

04:23Something similar happened on April 28, 2023, when a missile strike unleashed by a unit under the general's control struck

04:30Uman in the Chukasi region.

04:32These strikes involved missiles fired by Tu-95 bombers in the Caspian Sea region and one of those missiles struck

04:38a nine-storey residential building.

04:40This time, 24 people were killed, including six children.

04:45Three days of mourning were declared in Chukasi following the attack.

04:48But for the cruel Vapakovich, this was just another success in a long line of attacks against Ukraine's cities and

04:54people.

04:55Vapakovich made himself a target on July 8, 2024.

04:59A little over two years later, justice has finally been served.

05:03There is no doubt about the fact that the motorcycle gunman was looking for revenge.

05:07The attack was far too well planned and it targeted a man who has been on Ukraine's hit list for

05:12a long time.

05:13However, there's plenty about this assassination attempt that we don't yet know, as well as more that we do know

05:18that we haven't revealed yet.

05:19What we do know for sure is that the attack took place in the village of Prabuzdaniya at around 7am

05:25on September 3.

05:26The motorcycle gunman was wearing a helmet at the time of the shooting, making him impossible to immediately identify and

05:32he made a very quick escape.

05:34There wasn't any hanging around.

05:36At least two shots were fired and the gunman was gone.

05:38According to the Russian telegram channel Shot, the attack may not have taken place directly outside Vapakovich's home.

05:45Instead, the channel claims the general was shot as he emerged from a shop.

05:48This would suggest that whoever carried out this attack had been watching Vapakovich's routine closely and chose the perfect time

05:55to strike when he was out in the open and defenseless.

05:58However, this report is contradicted by the MASH telegram channel, which says that the shooting did indeed take place outside

06:04a detached house.

06:05It's also believed that the general's driver was hit by a bullet, which may explain the third shot some reports

06:11claim and that driver is the one who called the ambulance that carted Vapakovich to the hospital.

06:17We can already see variances and contradictions appearing in the reports.

06:20That continues when we start looking at Russia's reporting of what has happened.

06:25According to CNN, Vapakovich may not have died in the attack and is instead languishing in hospital.

06:30New Sky backs this up, noting that some reports place the Russian general in serious condition, while others say that

06:37he is in critical condition and may not survive his injuries.

06:40If he does survive, bullet wounds to the face and torso aren't things that can simply be shrugged off, meaning

06:46Vapakovich may have been rendered useless to the 22nd heavy bomber aviation division that he ordered to carry out his

06:52war crimes.

06:53It's also worth noting that it isn't Russia itself that's claiming Vapakovich was the man shot in the attack.

06:58Officially, nothing has been confirmed by Russia outside of the fact that a shooting has taken place.

07:04Euromiden Press reports that the Saratov Regional Branch of Russia's Investigative Committee has stated that there was an attempt to

07:10kill a service member of the Russian military and this service member has been taken to hospital.

07:16Investigators have also been casing the scene and have reportedly recovered cartridge cases related to the assassination attempt.

07:23Cases have been opened for illegal weapons trafficking and attempted murder, though no names have been released either of the

07:29victim or the suspect.

07:31In other words, Russia is trying to keep this as quiet as it possibly can.

07:35There's no denying that the shooting occurred.

07:37Plenty of people would have heard the bullets and seen the ambulance arrive.

07:40So Russia resorts to Plan B, which is to say as little as possible.

07:44Probuzdeniya has been cordoned off too, which is another thing that's difficult to hide.

07:48And it's been reported by Migflug that FSB members and police officers have joined the Investigative Committee that is looking

07:55into the attack.

07:56Russia's Defense Ministry hasn't released any comment at the time of creating this video, and neither has Ukraine.

08:01Though we can assume all we want, Ukraine hasn't officially taken any credit for what has happened to Vapakovich.

08:06But that's par for the course for Ukraine.

08:08As much motive as it has for taking this butcher out of the picture,

08:12Ukraine rarely ever confirms its involvements in assassination attempts, successful or otherwise, that take place on Russian territory.

08:19SOFX notes that no Ukrainian officials have publicly commented on what happened, not even to celebrate the attack.

08:25However, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky dropped the vaguest of hints during his September 3rd evening address as he said,

08:32Wherever Russian war criminals would try to hide, they will be found.

08:36And today we have another confirmation of that.

08:39Confirmation on the territory of Saratovoblast.

08:42This isn't Zelensky outright stating that Vapakovich was shot by a Ukrainian gunman.

08:47Just that the general was found.

08:48Perhaps a subtle little dig at Putin from a president who knows that everybody in the Kremlin knows who was

08:54behind the attack, but nobody can prove it.

08:56Or maybe not.

08:58Ukraine is keeping everybody guessing, and that's the entire point.

09:01Before we move on, there's one more interesting wrinkle to add to the story.

09:04The attempt on Vapakovich's life follows almost immediately on from Ukraine doing something that made it clear the butcher was

09:11on its radar.

09:12On August 31st, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that Vapakovich had been charged in absentia for crimes in Kyiv

09:19following an investigation that produced evidence revealing his involvement.

09:23Of course, the general was never going to head to Ukraine to stand trial, but justice has found him in

09:28the form of a bullet to the face and another to the torso.

09:31For Russia, this attack further establishes two disturbing patterns that it's seeing, one recent and the other that has occurred

09:38over several years of its failed Ukrainian invasion.

09:40But before we reveal more, this is a reminder that you're watching the military show.

09:44We bring you the full picture, not just the headlines.

09:47If you want to see more, make sure you are subscribed to the channel and have notifications enabled.

09:53First, we're going to give you a little reminder of where this assassination took place.

09:57Engels.

09:58If you've been paying attention to what Ukraine has been up to throughout much of August, this name will ring

10:02a bell in your brain.

10:03And it should.

10:04Engels is the home of an airfield where Russia keeps several of the bombers that form part of its strategic

10:09fleet.

10:09And Ukraine has been hitting that airfield hard over the last few weeks.

10:13This is the recent pattern that we mentioned.

10:15And this latest attack should tell the Kremlin that Engels is compromised to the point of being almost worthless to

10:22the Russian military.

10:23The pattern first emerged at the beginning of August when Ukraine carried out a sweep of strikes inside Russia, including

10:29an attack against the major oil refinery in Saratov.

10:32That refinery strike may have grabbed the headlines, but it was another attack at the Engels 2 airbase that set

10:38the stage for what has come since.

10:40A fire broke out at the base following Ukraine's attack, though it isn't clear if Ukraine managed to destroy any

10:45military assets in this strike.

10:47Clarity certainly came later in the month, though.

10:50In another Engels attack on August 28th, Ukraine's drones broke through air defenses that clearly aren't fit for purpose, scoring

10:57direct hits against a Tu-95MS bomber.

11:01Remember, these are the aircraft that fall under Vabkovich's umbrella.

11:04Satellite images since the strike show that Ukraine's drones destroyed the right wing of the bomber, which is a major

11:11problem given that this is a Soviet-era bomber and Russia has few facilities that could carry out repairs.

11:16What we're seeing here is that Ukraine has clearly determined that Engels is a weak point for Russia.

11:21The city, which is about 700 kilometers away from Ukraine, was meant to be safe.

11:26That's why Vabkovich felt comfortable living there.

11:28The Russian general might have been starting to get antsy about Ukrainian drones reaching the city's airfield so consistently.

11:35He might have been turning his eyes to the skies, perhaps expecting a drone to come for him, but there

11:40are other ways to kill a general hundreds of kilometers away.

11:43As Ukraine's drones flew, a gunman in Engels itself prepared for his own kind of attack.

11:48Russia may still try to use Engels as a base for its missile attacks, but it knows that the city

11:53isn't safe anymore.

11:54Even as Russia tries to build fortified hangars at Engels 2, that only serves as an admission of vulnerability.

12:01And now that the general who was key to the entire facility seems to be out of the picture, it

12:05will be interesting to see how Russia responds in the weeks that follow.

12:08The immediate pattern is one that Putin never thought he'd see, especially at Engels.

12:13Especially as Engels was supposed to be far enough away that Ukraine would never be able to touch it.

12:18But the longer pattern is even more devastating.

12:22Vabkovich is far from the only Russian general who has been successfully targeted inside Russia and outside of the sort

12:28of military base where you might expect a general to be hit.

12:30What happened in Engels is just the latest in a long line of assassinations and attempts on the lives of

12:35key figures that have been carried out inside cities, often close to where those officials live, by operatives who have

12:42clearly spent time watching and waiting for the time to strike.

12:46Russia has an assassin problem and the numbers are starting to stack up.

12:49According to Migflug, Vabkovich is the seventh Russian general who has been targeted on Russia's own territory over the last

12:56couple of years.

12:58Other notable examples include General Igor Kirillov, who was killed by a bomb planted in a scooter which exploded as

13:05he walked past in December 2025.

13:07Several generals have also been killed with car bombs and Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev was shot and seriously wounded inside

13:15the lobby of his own apartment building in February 2026.

13:18That attack offers the closest parallel to what we've just seen with Vabkovich, though it's clear that whoever is making

13:24these assassination attempts has people inside Russia who know exactly who to strike and where to strike them.

13:30It's almost as though there is an unconfirmed foreign intelligence agency that has operatives working right under Putin's nose, but

13:37that foreign country isn't confirming or denying anything.

13:40Using a wider lens, we can see that Russia's dying general problem is even worse than Migflug suggests.

13:46In a January report, the Moscow Times said that at least 19 of Russia's generals have died since the launch

13:52of the Ukraine invasion.

13:53That number comes from open source data and not all have been confirmed by Russian authorities.

13:59It's also unclear how many more of these deaths took place inside Russia versus those that have happened close to

14:05the front lines.

14:06In an April 2 report, Mediazona put the number at 15 generals dead, adding that all of these deaths are

14:13verified.

14:14That likely explains the variance in the numbers.

14:16On top of that, the outlet claims 6,948 Russian army officers and security service agents are confirmed dead as

14:25of March 27th.

14:26And there will likely have been more added to that list since.

14:29Russia is losing far too many of its most experienced and talented soldiers from the level of general down, and

14:35it isn't helping itself either.

14:37If it's not unknown gunmen shooting generals and top officials in the street, Russia is purging other experienced professionals.

14:43A day after the shooting of Varbakovich, the news broke that a high-ranking Russian police officer named Colonel Sergei

14:50Shelaginov had been found dead outside a building in Yekaterinburg.

14:54He had served as the leader of the Center for Combating Extremism at Svedlovsk region's Internal Affairs Ministry before he

15:01was ousted from the role.

15:02Now he's gone, yet another high-ranking official who has taken an unfortunate fall out of a window.

15:08Of course, this is all coincidence. There's something about those Russian windows that seems to attract people who used to

15:14have power but somehow fell onto the wrong side of the authorities.

15:18Sarcasm aside, it seems that Russia is shooting itself in the foot as often as people are shooting its generals

15:23in the face.

15:24More talent and experience are disappearing due to these types of purges and they, along with the assassinations and deaths

15:30on the battlefield, all add up to a Russia that is getting weaker by the month.

15:34Russia doesn't seem to be able to do anything about this. Sure, guidance is issued to those whom the Kremlin

15:40believes may become targets, with the most recent example being information about how to search for bombs under vehicles.

15:46Russia's Ministry of Defense has also urged potential assassination targets to change their hairstyles, shave or grow beards and stop

15:55using their own vehicles.

15:56None of it's working, because these measures don't confront the core issue that Russia's internal security services are failing to

16:03locate the operatives working inside Russia, who are carrying out these assassinations in the first place.

16:08The uncertainty in the air right now in Russia is palpable. Key officials, who once believed themselves to be safe,

16:14now know that they aren't.

16:15But they don't know where the threat is coming from. Could it be a drone in the sky, a scooter

16:20or car that they happen to be passing, a present or package that they've received, or perhaps a lone gunman

16:25riding past on a motorcycle?

16:27All are possibilities. The butcher of Kiev just found that out the hard way, as he has paid for his

16:32crime of killing children on Putin's behalf.

16:34Before Varpukovic was shot, he'd had to watch as several of Russia's bombers were taken out at Engels II.

16:40We touched on this earlier, now you can find out the details by watching our video, where we cover Ukraine's

16:46latest Engels II strike and what it means for Russia's bomber fleet.

16:49But before you go, are you enjoying our reporting? Subscribe and share your thoughts below.

16:54And if you'd like to support the real people behind the channel, consider becoming a member for exclusive content.

16:59And thank you, as always, for watching.

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