Dmitry Golenkov served as chief of staff of an aviation squadron, and was found dead with head injuries likely “caused by hammer,” per HUR.
The Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense reported on 21 October, that Dmitry Golenkov, a Russian military officer implicated in airstrikes on civilian targets in Ukraine, has been found dead in Suponyovo village, Bryansk Oblast, Russia.
The HUR has been actively targeting collaborators and quisling officials in Russian-occupied areas, and occasionally reports the deaths of Russian military officers on the Russian soil. The intelligence organization never explicitly confirms involvement in assassination operations but consistently ends such reports with the statement, “there will be fair retribution for every war crime.” Another Ukrainian agency speculated to be involved in some high-profile assassinations in Russia is the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
According to the intelligence report, Golenkov’s body was discovered with multiple head injuries, likely caused by a hammer. The Russian officer reportedly served as the chief of staff of an aviation squadron in the 52nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Russian Aerospace Forces (military unit 33310), based at Shaykovka airfield in Russia’s Kaluga Oblast, and equipped with Tu-22M3 strategic bombers.
Russia employs its Tu-22 and Tu-95 strategic bombers for large-scale missile strikes deep within Ukrainian territory, targeting civilian infrastructure such as energy facilities, residential areas, and occasionally military sites.
The HUR stated that Golenkov was involved in the missile strike on the Amstor shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, on 27 June 2022. This attack resulted in the deaths of 22 people, with approximately 1,000 civilians present in the mall at the time of the strike.
The intelligence service also implicated Golenkov in the missile attack on a residential building in Dnipro City on 14 January 2023, which claimed the lives of 46 Ukrainian civilians, including six children.Earlier, on 19 October, the HUR reported the elimination of Russian Major Dmitry Pervukha in temporarily occupied Luhansk, eastern Ukraine. Pervukha, who held the position of “chief of staff for military service and security of military service” in the occupied territory, was killed when his UAZ Patriot vehicle exploded in the city center.
