A former Russian deputy prime minister and a Kremlin-backed official were wounded when Ukrainian forces shelled a hotel and restaurant Wednesday in the occupied city of Donetsk.
Dmitry Rogozin, the former Russian deputy prime minister who is currently leading a volunteer force that provides support to pro-Kremlin forces in Ukraine, was having a business lunch with some associates when the restaurant came under fire from high-precision weapons.
Rogozin was injured in the shoulder blade in the attack, which is believed to have been carried out by a Caesar 155-millimeter self-propelled howitzer artillery system that was supplied to Ukrainian forces by France.
The 59-year-old crony of Russian President Vladimir Putin also allegedly sustained shrapnel wounds to the head, buttocks and left hip, the news outlet Baza reported on its Telegram channel.
He was transported to a hospital in the Russian city of Rostov-na-donu and is expected to survive.
A view shows the blood-soaked restaurant Shesh-Besh in Donetsk, Ukraine, where people including Russian ex-deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin were injured in a shelling Wednesday. REUTERS
Rogozin, 59, was having a business meeting with his associates at the restaurant when it came under Ukrainian fire. Getty ImagesThe attack on the Shesh-Besh restaurant killed at least one person and also injured Vitaly Khotsenko, the head of government of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, his press secretary told Russian news agencies.
Photos of the shelling’s grisly aftermath showed a blood-soaked carpet, bloodstains on white tablecloths and a large chunk of wall missing in the garishly decorated dining room.
Donetsk is in the industrial Donbas region, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting of the 10-month war. The city has been in the hands of pro-Moscow leaders since 2014.
Writing on his own Telegram channel Thursday, Rogozin suggested the Ukrainian forces had acted on a tip.
A Russian aide claimed the hotel in Donetsk was probably shelled from French-supplied high-precision howitzers. REUTERS“We have been staying at this hotel the last several months, and in the past eight years the enemy had never shelled this place,” he wrote. “Someone leaked information…”
The staunch Putin ally, known for his social media clashes with Elon Musk, used to head Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, but was replaced in July.
Meanwhile, there was more bad news for Putin’s forces Thursday, when Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, caught fire while undergoing repairs.
Rogozin is leading a volunteer team called Tsar’s Wolves that supports pro-Moscow forces in the Donbas region. social media/e2w
Rogozin, a staunch ally of Vladimir Putin, was replaced in July as head of Russia’s space agency. Getty ImagesRussian state media Tass and RIA Novosti reported that the flagship of the Russian navy suffered a “minor” fire at a shipyard in the Arctic port of Murmansk.
Aleksey Rakhmanov, head of the state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation, which is overseeing a major refit of the carrier, said the blaze was quickly extinguished and caused no casualties.
Delays and accidents have plagued the Admiral Kuznetsov’s ongoing overhaul, which began in 2017 and was initially set to conclude last year.
At least one person was killed and 12 others injured after a fire broke out in December 2019. The previous year, a crane crashed onto its deck after a floating dock holding it began to sink, causing damage.
In more bad news for Russia, on Thursday the country’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, caught fire while undergoing repairs in Murmansk. Life Shot/e2wRakhmanov told Russian media in June that he expected the Admiral Kuznetsov to return to service in early 2024, almost three years behind schedule.
With Post wires
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