A pro-Russia former Ukrainian politician, Oleg Tsaryov, who was shot and wounded in a late-night attack in Crimea. The attack occurred in Yalta, and Mr. Tsaryov was shot twice on the premises of the sanatorium where he lives.
He was found unconscious and had lost a significant amount of blood. Russia's top investigative body has opened a criminal inquiry into the attempted assassination.
Oleg Tsaryov, who runs hotels in Crimea, had been mentioned in previous reports as a potential leader for a puppet government in Kyiv if Russia had succeeded in ousting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the early days of the war in Ukraine.
He had also served as a member of parliament and was previously a speaker of the parliament of "Novorossiya." Mr. Tsaryov is under sanctions by Ukraine, the United States, and several other Western countries.
Several pro-Russia figures listed in a Ukrainian database of enemies of the country have been assassinated since the conflict began, including journalists and war bloggers.