Ukrainian-born politician Oleg Tsaryov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is in serious condition after being shot during an assassination attempt in Russian annexed Crimea on Friday.
Newsweek reported that Tsaryov is in "serious condition" after being shot in the annexed southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, according to We Are Together with Russia founder Vladimir Rogov.
"Oleg's condition is very serious. He is currently in intensive care," Newsweek reported Rogov writing on his Telegram channel, asking his subscribers to pray for the official. "There was no stabbing. Oleg was shot."
The report said that Putin was eyeing Tsaryov to lead regime change in the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv days before the February, 2022, invasion, but Tsaryov denied the claim in a Financial Times interview about a week before the initial invasion.
Reuters is reporting that the Ukrainian intelligence agency told the news outlet that the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU] was behind the shooting of Tsaryov during the "late-night attack," calling Tsaryov "a legal target."
Reuters also reported that Russia's top investigative agency is opening a criminal inquiry into the assassination attempt.
"Around midnight he was shot twice on the premises of the sanatorium where he lives," said a post on Tsaryov's Telegram account, citing the family. "When the ambulance arrived, Oleg was unconscious and had lost a lot of blood."
Previously a member of the Ukraine cabinet and later speaker of the "Novorossiya" pro-Russian parliament that broke away from Ukraine in 2014, Tsaryov, 53, was under Ukraine sanctions, as well as sanctions from the United States and other Western nations for collaborating with Russia, according to the report.
"We won't comment in too much detail yet, that's too much of an honor for him. But yes, there is such information. I can't say we're following his health very closely, but we are following," Reuters reported Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence agency saying on television. "When there is information that his body temperature has fallen below 36.6 [degrees Celsius], there will definitely be a statement."
The report said that the shooting of Tsaryov was another action similar to several pro-Russian figures being assassinated since the war began, including journalist Darya Dugina, blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, and former submarine commander Stanislav Rzhitsky.
Both Dugina and Tatarsky were victims of bombs while Rzhitsky was shot to death during a morning run, the report said.
Charles Kim ✉
Charles Kim, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years in reporting on news and politics.
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