Kept in touch with his handler throughout: What is known about retiree who tried to assassinate Obolienskyi?

Author: Yurii Butusov

Russian security services attempted to assassinate Colonel Ihor Obolienskyi, commander of the 2nd Khartiia Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. Today, in central Kharkiv, 69-year-old local resident Hennadii Parfeniuk tried to kill one of the senior commanders of Ukraine’s Defence Forces.

Parfeniuk received a tip-off from a spotter who had been monitoring Obolienskyi and arrived at the location where the corps commander was expected to appear. Throughout this time, the traitor remained in contact with the organiser of the assassination attempt via his phone and earphones.

After receiving word that the corps commander was coming outside, Parfeniuk approached him and his bodyguard from behind, aimed a pistol at them and pulled the trigger. But the gun did not fire because... in his agitation, Parfeniuk had failed to chamber a round!

Parfeniuk tried to ready the weapon, but the corps commander heard the sound, turned around and saw a gun barrel pointed at him from three metres away. He reacted quickly, and together with his bodyguard detained the traitor. The earphones fell out of the man’s ears, and the Russian handler could be heard shouting: "Shoot him! Take the shot!"

The attack was captured by numerous surveillance cameras.

Parfeniuk is a pensioner. According to publicly available information online, his last known job was as a driver for one of the municipal enterprises run by Kharkiv City Council. Parfeniuk gave the following cover story: he had allegedly been instructed by Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) officers to attack... a Russian agent in central Kharkiv whom he had never heard of and knew nothing about. He received a Makarov pistol with one loaded magazine from another agent and was instructed to approach at close range and fire several shots at a person he did not know and whom his "handlers" were supposed to identify at the scene. Just like that: strangers call you on the phone, hand you a pistol, and you head into the city centre and pull the trigger.

Parfeniuk had not undergone any special training for the terrorist attack; he had served in law enforcement and knew how to handle firearms. He was allegedly recruited in early July.

As far as is known, SSU officers have already detained several agents from this Russian group in connection with the case.

Today is, without exaggeration, another birthday for Ihor Obolienskyi. He survived thanks to his quick reaction and a mistake by the Russian agent. It means he still has much to accomplish in life.

Obolienskyi currently commands the 2nd Corps, comprising nine brigades of the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU) and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). They operate across a broad sector in the Kharkiv region, where the Russian advance has been completely halted for a considerable time and successful counterattacks are being conducted. The enemy is evidently planning active operations.

Earlier this year, Russian security services also plotted a terrorist attack against 3rd Corps commander Andrii Biletskyi. The Russian agent involved was also apprehended.

This is further confirmation that the enemy is stepping up its agent operations and attempting to systematically hunt down Ukrainian commanders, so security measures must be strengthened.