October 22nd 2024.
Dmitry Golenkov, a 46-year-old Russian pilot and chief of staff for an aviation squadron, has been at the center of controversy for his involvement in devastating attacks on innocent Ukrainian civilians. However, the tables have turned as Golenkov has now been found dead, his body bearing the marks of a brutal beating.
According to Ukraine's military intelligence agency, Golenkov, who was considered a "war criminal," was assassinated using what they have called the "hammer of justice." His battered body was discovered in Russia's Bryansk region, leading many to believe that he was killed in retaliation for his actions.
Golenkov's involvement in the bombing of the Amstor shopping center in Kremenchuk in June 2022 has been widely condemned. The attack, which resulted in the deaths of 22 people and left 59 others wounded, was described by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as one of the most heinous acts of terrorism in European history. What makes it even more tragic is that the shopping center held no strategic value and posed no threat to Russian forces, it was simply a place where people were trying to live their lives.
A thousand people were inside the shopping center at the time of the attack, highlighting the callousness of Golenkov's actions. Unfortunately, this was not the only attack he was responsible for. In January 2023, a missile strike on a residential building in Dnipro claimed the lives of 46 Ukrainian civilians, including 6 children. The GUR military intelligence agency in Ukraine has stated that Golenkov, who was flying a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber, was targeted and killed in retaliation for his role in these attacks.
The Tupolev Tu-22M3 is a modernized version of a Soviet-era long-range strategic bomber, which has been used in several raids on Ukraine during the war. It is still unclear how Ukraine was able to carry out the assassination, but it is believed that their special forces and partisans have been conducting operations within Russian-occupied territories throughout the war.
Video footage of Golenkov's body has emerged, showing him lying face down in a shrubland in the village of Suponevo, with his head covered in blood. According to the GUR, he was the chief of staff for the 52nd heavy bomber aviation regiment based in the neighboring region of Kaluga, and was directly involved in targeting Ukrainian civilians.
The Russian defense ministry has yet to comment on Golenkov's death. However, this is not the first time that Ukraine's military intelligence has claimed responsibility for the assassination of collaborators behind enemy lines. Dozens of individuals have been killed by Ukrainian agents in occupied territories, including a military blogger who was killed by a bomb planted inside a bust in a cafe in St. Petersburg last year.
It is evident that Golenkov's actions have had severe consequences, not only for the innocent civilians he indiscriminately targeted, but also for himself. While his death may bring a sense of justice to the victims of his attacks, it also serves as a reminder of the ongoing conflict and the devastating toll it has taken on both sides.
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