Officers from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and the federal investigative authority reported on Sept. 8 that they had detained a 21-year-old Moldovan citizen, Nicolae Kochu, in the Astrakhan region on suspicion of attempting to murder a Russian general in the village of Probuzhdeniye, in the Saratov region’s Engels district on Sept. 3. Reports at the time said a gunman had fired six shots at an unnamed serviceman, said to be a high ranking air force officer, who was critically wounded but survived.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The victim was unofficially identified as Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich, commander of Russia’s long-range 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division. Ukraine has accused his unit of being responsible for several missile strikes including the one on the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv on July 8, 2024 The FSB claims that Kochu was recruited by a Ukrainian intelligence officer through a social media job search site in 2025. The report says he received explosives and firearms training in Kyiv earlier this year before traveling to Russia in June intent on killing Varpakhovich. According to the Russian news site Izvestia, Kochu was to be paid $70,000 if the attack was successful Kochu was detained while trying to leave Russia on his way back to Moldova after the attack. Authorities have opened criminal cases against Kochu for the attempted murder and illegal weapons trafficking.