The FSB announced the arrest of a suspect in the attempted assassination of a Russian general
On September 8, the FSB and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation announced the arrest of 21-year-old Moldovan citizen Nicolae Kochu, who is suspected of attempting to assassinate a high-ranking Russian military officer in the Saratov Region. According to Russian law enforcement, the officer was wounded but survived.
According to the FSB, on September 3, in the village of Probuzhdenie in the Engels District of the Saratov Region, Kochu fired six shots at the military officer. His name has not been officially disclosed; it is known only that he is a high-ranking representative of the Russian army.
At the same time, according to unofficial reports, Major General Mykola Varpakhovych, commander of the 22nd Heavy Long-Range Bomber Aviation Division of the Russian Aerospace Forces, may have been wounded in the attack. In Ukraine, he is considered responsible for the missile strike on the “Okhmatdyt” Children’s Hospital in Kyiv on July 8, 2024.
At the time of that attack, there were more than 600 patients and approximately the same number of staff members at the hospital. Two people were killed as a result of the strike.
The FSB claims that in 2025, Kochu was allegedly recruited via social media by an employee of the Ukrainian special services. According to the Russian agency, the young man was looking for work in Moldova at the time. In 2026, he allegedly underwent “mine-explosive and marksmanship training” in Kyiv, and in June he arrived in Russia to carry out the assassination attempt.
After the attack, according to the FSB, Kochu was supposed to return to Moldova, but he was detained while attempting to leave Russia. Criminal cases were opened against him under articles concerning attempted murder and illegal possession of weapons.
The FSB also released a video of the suspect’s arrest and interrogation. In the footage, Kochu says he saw a job posting on Instagram, after which he was allegedly contacted by representatives of Ukraine. However, the circumstances surrounding the recording of the video and the conditions under which the suspect gave his testimony have not been disclosed.
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