Kiev:
A close adviser to the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s army was killed Monday when a grenade exploded among his birthday presents, officials said.
“Under tragic circumstances, my assistant and close friend Major Gennadiy Chastiakov was killed on his birthday,” General Valery Zaluzhny said on Telegram, saying that an “unknown explosive device was detonated in one of his gifts.”
Chastiakov showed his son a box of grenades he had received as a gift, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said in a statement on Telegram.
“First the son took the ammunition in his hands and started turning the ring. Then the soldier took the grenade from the child and pulled the ring, which caused a tragic explosion,” Klymenko said.
Police have identified a fellow soldier who gave the fatal gift, he said, and have seized two similar grenades.
An investigation is underway.
Chastiakov leaves behind a wife and four children, Zaluzhny said.
He added that since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Chastiakov had “completely devoted his life to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the fight against Russian aggression.”
Attacks against Ukrainian leaders have been relatively rare since Moscow invaded, but there have been several attacks on nationalists that Russia has blamed on Ukraine.
In April, an explosion of an explosive-rigged statue killed 40-year-old pro-Kremlin military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky.
The Kremlin said the attack was orchestrated by Ukraine with the help of supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
But observers said the bombings could be used to justify further crackdowns on critics.
And last August, Darya Dugina, the daughter of a prominent ultranationalist intellectual, was killed in a car bombing outside Moscow that Russia blamed on Ukraine.
Kiev denied the accusations.
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