Birthday gift given to top Ukrainian military officer explodes, killing him

Major Hennadiy Shashtiyakov, 39, one of the most trusted names of Valeri Zaluzhni, known as the head of the Russian army, tragically lost his life…

A hand grenade was found in one of the boxes delivered to Shashtiyakov, who returned home after his birthday party with his friends and unwrapped the gifts he and his 13-year-old son received.

Ukrainian media shared photos taken from inside the house.

But then the grenade exploded, killing Shashtiakov. It was reported that his 13-year-old son was hospitalized with serious injuries. The Minister of the Interior of Ukraine, Igor Klimenko, stated that the pin of the grenade that hit the young official was his son.

Klimenko said: “Shashtiakov then took the grenade from the boy, but a tragic accident occurred.” The incident was also reported to have taken place in an apartment in western kyiv. During the investigation it was stated that 5 more hand grenades were found in the apartment and that the person who gave the gift was a colonel.

Many hand grenades were found in the house.

A source told Ukrainska Pravda that the bottle was in a gift bag with grenade-shaped glasses and that the explosion occurred when he opened the bag. In other news, the colonel who gave the gift was reported to have handed over the bottle with the words: “It’s hard to surprise you: that’s why I’m giving you combat grenades and a bottle of good whiskey.”

General Zaluzhni spoke of the unspeakable pain and heavy losses for the Ukrainian military and for him personally, and described Major Shashtiyakov as a “trusted shoulder” since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022.