A Russian bomber pilot is said to have been murdered with a hammer. The Ukrainian secret service reports this – and sends a meaningful message.
A Russian bomber pilot who is said to have taken part in several missions in the air war against Ukraine was apparently found dead on his property in southwest Russia. This is reported by several Ukrainian media outlets, citing the Ukrainian secret service GRU.
Accordingly, Dmitiri Golenkov is said to have been killed in the small town of Suponevo near the regional capital Bryansk. A hammer is considered an instrument of crime. The Ukrainian secret service posted pictures of the body on Telegram. They show a man lying on his stomach in the garden of his house between apple trees. Face down, the back of the head covered in blood.
Whether the man is really Golenkov has not yet been independently confirmed. The photographs were taken in the dark and the crime scene is poorly lit.
There is also no information yet about the suspects. However, the GRU wrote about the images of the body: “The intelligence service of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry would like to remind that every war crime will be punished accordingly.” This is not a commitment to the murder of the Russian pilot, but it is a telling message.
Among other things, Golenkov is said to have been involved in the momentous attack on a shopping center in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk in June 2022. At least 22 people died and 59 were injured, some seriously. There were up to 300 civilians in the shopping mall at the time of the attack. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the bombing one of the “most shameless terrorist attacks in the history of Europe.”
According to investigations, the shopping center was hit by a Russian Ch-22 cruise missile fired from a Tu-22M3 medium-range heavy bomber. The bomber was stationed at the Shaikowka military base in the Kaluga Oblast. Golenkov also served at this military base, which is only an hour and a half away from his home in Suponevo.
According to the Kyiv Independent, the 45-year-old bomber pilot was serving in the Russian army’s 52nd heavy air squadron, which has been stationed at the Shaikovka base since 2020. Golenkov is also said to have been involved in the attack on a residential building in the city of Dnipro in the summer of 2023. 46 people died, including six children.