Crimea bomb attack reportedly kills former Ukrainian submarine commander who defected to Russia

A bomb attack in Sevastopol, Crimea, reportedly claimed the life of a former Ukrainian submarine commander who defected to Russia in 2014. Russian authorities confirmed that a Russian military officer was killed in the targeted attack and that a woman has been arrested in connection with the incident. The identity of the targeted officer remains undisclosed, but unofficial Telegram channels suggest it was Robert Shageev, a former commander of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia submarine, who defected to Russia in 2014.

In 2014, a Ukraine defense ministry spokesperson confirmed that the Zaporizhzhia was taken over and placed under the Russian naval fleet's command after its commander abandoned it. According to Sevastopol's governor Mikhail Razvozhayev, the suspect acted "on instructions from Ukrainian intelligence agencies." The bomb was planted in a trash can in a park near Stoletovsky Prospekt, an active road in western Sevastopol, and was remotely detonated when the officer passed by, as stated by Russia 24, citing the Federal Security Service (FSB).

Russia has previously blamed Ukraine for several other assassinations, including the killings of two Russian generals in Moscow in April and December 2025. Additionally, five other individuals, consisting of four Russian service members and one security guard, were killed in a separate explosion in Sevastopol while attempting to clear an area of Ukrainian bombs following a prior attack.