A huge car bomb mutilated the Russian commander of an occupied Ukrainian city on Tuesday, the latest assassination attempt on a pro-Moscow official.
Footage from Berdyansk showed the burning wreckage of a car said to belong to Bardin Artem Igorevich, the military commander appointed by Moscow to patrol the Russian-held city and surrounding region.
The blast rocked a tree-lined city center street near the administration building. According to reports, Igorevich was taken to a hospital and is in serious condition.
A gunfight ensued after the blast, with footage overlooking the city capturing the sound of gunfire as smoke billowed from the car across the skyline.
The blast came as Kyiv claimed Moscow’s death toll in the war has now surpassed 50,000 and as Ukrainian forces made their first gains in a counteroffensive against Vladimir Putin’s invading forces in the east.
Bardin is the youngest officer deployed by Russian forces in Moscow-controlled areas in Ukraine to be wounded or killed in attacks.
Kyiv has not officially claimed responsibility for these attacks, but they are believed to be carried out by pro-Ukrainian activists in the occupied territories.
Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Russian administration of the occupied Zaporizhia region, called the incident a terrorist attack on his Telegram channel.
He wrote that three other civilian cars were damaged in the blast.
A giant car bomb reportedly maimed the Russian commander of an occupied Ukrainian city on Tuesday. Pictured: A burned-out car is seen on a street in Berdyansk, a city in eastern Ukraine
“As a result of the explosion, the city commander was hospitalized in a serious condition. Doctors are providing him with the necessary medical care,” Rogov wrote.
“Three civilian cars were also damaged by the explosion, which only by a fortunate coincidence were empty. The details of the incident are being specified,” he added.
Speaking to Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti, Rogov said, “Terrorists from the Zelenskyi regime are behind the terrorist attack and assassination of the Berdyansk commander.” He said an investigation had been launched.
Russia’s encroachment into its neighbor’s territory has largely stalled for months since Putin’s forces seized Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region as well as much of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhia region.
Fierce fighting has erupted in eastern Ukraine in recent months, with Kyiv’s forces now beginning a counterattack against the occupying forces in some regions.
Experts believe that as a prelude to full annexation, Putin wants to hold fake referenda in the occupied territories – just like the Russian president did in Crimea in 2014.
However, the recent deaths of pro-Russian officials are seen as evidence that pro-Ukrainian saboteurs are operating in Russian-controlled territory and may be delaying plans to make eastern Ukraine an extension of Russian territory.
A pro-Russian police chief was found hanged in the region last month.
Footage from Berdyansk (pictured) showed the burning wreckage of a car said to belong to Bardin Artem Igorevich, the military commander appointed by Moscow to patrol the city and surrounding region
The explosion shook a street in the city center near the administration building. According to reports, Igorevich was taken to a hospital and is in serious condition
Andrei Ryzhkov was said to have been a border guard in Ukraine before the change of sides. He was appointed chief of police by the Kremlin occupation forces.
Odessa official Sergei Bratchuk said Ryzhkov was “found hanged in a noose.” The exact circumstances of his hanging are not known, but are being investigated by the Russian occupying power.
And a week earlier, another regional official in the Zaporizhia region, Ivan Sushko, 40, was killed in a car bomb attack.
Both men were from Mykhailivka, near Berdyansk and in the same region as the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under siege by Russian troops.
Alexander Kolesnikov, deputy chief of the Berdyansk traffic police, was also blown up in a car bomb attack.
Pictured: Smoke rises from the burning car in Berdyansk. The car was blown up near the city’s administrative building
Pictured: A map showing Berdyansk in eastern Ukraine, where Tuesday’s blast took place. Fierce fighting has erupted in eastern Ukraine in recent months, with Kyiv’s forces now beginning a counterattack against the occupying forces in some regions
Trends suggest that Putin’s forces are struggling to control lands captured early in the war.
News of the Berdyansk blast came as the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Russia lost about 50,150 troops between February 24 and September 6 – the first time the estimate has exceeded 50,000.
In addition to the tens of thousands of soldiers, Russia has lost 2,077 tanks, 4,484 armored fighting vehicles, 1,179 artillery units, 296 multiple missile systems, 156 air defense systems, 236 combat aircraft, 207 helicopters, 876 drones, 209 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 3,305 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 109 special equipment – according to the Ukrainian military.
Russia has claimed its losses have been much lighter, but rarely releases updates to its latest figures.
Ukraine has maintained its first gains in a counter-offensive against the Russian army in the south, saying it has recaptured several areas and destroyed several targets.
