Ukraine staged the death of a high-ranked Russian fighting on Kyiv’s side to prevent him being killed on Moscow’s orders and lure out those involved in the plot, Ukrainian military intelligence announced on Thursday. The GUR military intelligence unit said the ruse even netted the $500,000 Russian reward for the “killing” of Denis Kapustin – also known as Denis Nikitin – leader of the Russian Volunteer Corps and “Timur Special Unit”, which had announced on Saturday that Kapustin was killed on the frontline.
On Thursday, Kapustin appeared via video link at a briefing with the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov. His assassination, the GUR and Timur unit said, “was ordered by the special services of the aggressor state Russia, which allocated half a million dollars to carry out the crime … As a result of a comprehensive special operation [his life] was preserved, and the circle of individuals was identified: the masterminds within the Russian special services and the perpetrators.”
The Timur unit announced: “Our side also received a corresponding amount of funds allocated by Russian intelligence agencies for the implementation of this crime.” Budanov said in a video posted online, showing himself and Kapustin: “First of all, Mr Denis, I congratulate you on returning to life. This is always a pleasure. I’m glad that the funds received from ordering your liquidation went to help our fight.” Kapustin, according to the AFP news agency, has a controversial past linked to the far right and football hooliganism, and some of his fighters have voiced neo-Nazi views.
Ukrainian drones struck energy and industrial targets across the Russian regions of Krasnodar, Tatarstan and Kaluga overnight into Thursday, local officials said. The attacks started fires the Ilskiy oil refinery in Krasnodar; at an energy storage facility in the city of Almetyevsk, in Tatarstan’s Volga River region; and at an industrial facility in the town of Lyudinovo, in the Kaluga region south-west of Moscow. The Ukrainian military confirmed it struck the facilities in Krasnodar and Tatarstan.
Russia and Ukraine accused each other of targeting civilians over New Year’s, with Moscow reporting a deadly strike on a hotel in territory it occupies in southern Ukraine, in response to which Kyiv said it strictly sticks to military and energy targets. The Ukrainian governor of Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said a man was killed and an 87-year-old woman injured in attacks on the city on Thursday. Ukrainian deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba said rail facilities were attacked in three regions.