Russian general accused of masterminding the attack against Kyiv’s children’s hospital injured in assassination attempt

A Russian general who has been accused by Ukraine of ordering a missile strike against a children’s hospital in Kyiv has reportedly been shot in northwestern Russia on Thursday. The Russian Investigative Committee said it opened an investigation into the attempted murder of a military service member who was shot several times in the city of Engels in the Saratov region on Thursday. While the committee did not name the man, Russian telegram channels widely reported it was Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich, the commander of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ Long-Range Aviation. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky later alluded to the attack in his daily address, saying “we will also carry out our own asymmetric operations in response” to Russia. “The Russian criminals did not hide - they will be found.