Ukrainian Side Confirms Kyiv Attempted to Assassinate Russian Armed Forces Chief of Staff

Aleksey Arestovich, an advisor to the head of Ukraine's presidential office, has commented on The New York Times' report indicating that Kyiv attempted to assassinate Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. According to him, the assassination attempt occurred in the latter half of April or May in the city of Izyum, located in the Kharkiv region. Russian authorities have not disclosed Gerasimov's visit to this city, as reported by kommersant.ru.

“Let’s reveal a terrible secret. Gerasimov was in Izyum, and we struck at Gerasimov. This actually happened,” Arestovich stated during a live broadcast on the Feigin Live YouTube channel. He noted that Kyiv had “targeted the headquarters” where Gerasimov was located, but he “managed to leave just before the strike.”

On December 17, The New York Times published materials regarding the assassination attempt on the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Federation. The newspaper did not clarify where specifically the Chief of Staff was planning to go, nor did it confirm whether he ultimately visited that location. According to sources from the publication, Washington was aware of the visit, but American officials initially concealed it from Kyiv and later attempted to dissuade them from the attack when they learned of the plans.