Col. Maxim Shapoval, a senior military intelligence officer, was killed in a car bomb in Kiev June 27, 2017. Photo by Reuters
Ukraine Day 1226: LIVE UPDATES BELOW. A Ukrainian military intelligence officer was assassinated in a car bomb in Kiev today, and his driver was killed.
Yesterday’s coverage of the Ukraine conflict can be found here.
An Invasion By Any Other Name: The Kremlin’s Dirty War in Ukraine
Senior Ukrainian Military Intelligence Officer Assassinated in Car Bomb; Massive Cyber Attacks on Ukraine
Col. Maxim Shapoval
Col. Maxim Shapoval, senior Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) official was killed in a car bomb in Kiev today along with his driver, AP reported. Two passers-by were also slightly injured in the blast. As AP reported:
Kiev regional police chief Andriy Kryshchenko tells 112 television channel the unidentified explosive device was either attached to the bottom of the car or planted inside,.
Investigators are treating the explosion as a terror attack but did not immediately say who was to blame.
Ukrainska Pravda cited intelligence sources that said Shapoval led a special division involved in combat in the Donbass, including operations on the occupied territories. They believe he was murdered for his role in reconnaissance, and that the time was picked deliberately, on the eve of the anniversary of his unit’s founding. Said a source (translation by The Interpreter):
“This is revenge. And the other side likely stands behind it. Who? The warlords of ORDLO [certain districts of Donetsk and Lugansk Regions], likely the puppets are not capable of such boldness. Most likely it’s a question of their leaders.”
Anatoliy Matios, head of the military prosecutor’s office said he believed there was “a Russian trail” in the murder. He said Shapoval was the commander of the first group to liberate the Donetsk Airport in 2014, after separatists seized it. Matios also said he opposed “online investigation” and that all the members of the investigation team would undergo lie-detector tests to prevent leaks to the media.
The assassination of Col. Shapoval follows a similar murder in Mariupol in March of Col. Oleksandr Kharaberyushn, an officer of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).
A former Russian MP, Denis Voronenkov who had fled to Ukraine fearing reprisals from Russian intelligence last October was also assassinated in Kiev in March.
And a prominent journalist, Pavel Sheremet, who fled first Belarus then Russia and complained that he and his partner, editor of Ukrainska Pravda, were being followed, was also murdered in a car bomb.
A number of leaders of the Russia-backed separatists have also been assassinated, including Arseny Pavlov, whose nom de guerre was “Motorola,” and Mikhail Tolstykh, known as “Givi”. Sources theorized that since separatists believe Kiev is behind these murders, the assassination of Shapoval was revenge. Yet others believe the separatists were killed by Russian intelligence.
Ukraine was also struck by an “unprecedented” ransomware cyberattack, the first in a string of such attacks worldwide.
Yaroslav Trakalo, head of the National Police, said 22 institutions in Ukraine had been affected by the virus. Experts disagree whether the virus that hit Ukraine is the same “Petya” virus found in European institutions today.
The airport and trains were working again after a halt, but the work of the Cabinet of Ministers was “paralyzed”
On the front line, there were no casualties reported today but there were 10 attacks by Russia-backed forces, Ukrainska Prava reported.
After two days of relative quiet, militants were more active on the Maritime line and attacked Ukrainian positions in Gnutovo and Pavlopol as well as Maryinka with grenade-launchers, machine guns and small arms.
On the Donetsk line, heavy machine guns were fired on Avdeyevka and 120-mm mortars as well as an anti-aircraft system were used to attack Luganskoye at the Svetlodarsk Bulge. Kamenka was also struck with 82-mortars, grenade-launchers and small arms.
The situation had stabilized on the Lugansk line, except for one attack on the village of Zhyoltoye with 82-mm mortars.
— Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
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