Before we get underway, I want to put this reply comment of mine from last night up here at the top of tonight’s update in regard to where things stand for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s genocidal re-invasion:
As I’ve written several times: This is going to be slow going. It will often look or seem frozen until it isn’t. The Ukrainians are not going to stop. And we have been far too slow to give them what they need and then we second guess them doing as well as they are despite us tying one of their arms behind their back.
General Zaluzhnyi’s aide de camp, Major Hennadiy Chastyakov, has been killed by a grenade that went off in his home. Because of the fog of war/imprecision of reporting of fast moving events in a state that is at war, this has been reported as everything from an assassination to under investigation to what it actually was: a stupid user error. Major Chastyakov took a box of grenades, took a grenade out of the box, and was showing it to his son when the grenade went off.
Here is the thread from interior minister Klymenko explaining the incident. https://t.co/vO5if6X34K
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) November 6, 2023
Here’s a machine translation of Interior Minister Klymenko’s thread:
Ihor Klymenko:
The tragedy in Chayki is beginning to be overgrown with various information from “sources”. Therefore, I officially announce:
As a result of primary investigative actions, it was possible to find out the first circumstances of the tragedy. Today was the birthday of the deceased major Chastyakov.
He returned home from work with gifts from his colleagues
began to show relatives.He took out a gift box with grenades inside and started showing one of the ammunition to his son. These were grenades of the new Western model.
First, the son took the ammunition and started turning the ring. Then the serviceman took the grenade from the child and pulled out the ring, provoking a tragic explosion.
The police found 5 more such unexploded grenades in the apartment. They will be sent for examination.
The police found a fellow soldier who gave a fatal gift. His office was already searched and 2 similar grenades were seized. Primary investigative actions are ongoing.
I urge you not to spread unofficial information.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing, wait for the official conclusions of the investigation
This was a unfortunate, but preventable accident. If you see anyone claiming this was an assassination, which is misinformation, bonk them. Then bonk them again.
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.
War for Ukraine Day 621: Fog of War Inside a ResidencePost + Comments (77)