One Year Later: Russian Officer Named in Okhmatdyt Hospital Missile Attack

One of the individuals responsible for planning a large-scale missile attack on Ukraine on July 8, 2024, including the attack on the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital, was Major Denis Alexeyevich Sheynov, head of the Special Engineering Service of the 121st Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment, part of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division.

According to a military intelligence source who spoke to Ukrinform, Sheynov was responsible for organizing the technical preparation of Kh-101 air-launched cruise missiles for use by Russian strategic bombers.

Sheynov was born in Saratov on January 30, 1978. He holds a passport (series 6302 number 906672) issued by the Kirovsky District Internal Affairs Department of Saratov on March 15, 2002. He graduated from the Saratov Higher Military Engineering Command School of Missile Forces in 2000.

According to intelligence, Sheynov carried out “special missions” in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2018 and received several military awards, including the Medal “For Military Valor” (2nd Class, 2000), the Medal “For Distinction in Military Service” (1st Class, 2015), and the Medal “Participant in the Military Operation in Syria” (2019).

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Sheynov, the head of the Special Engineering Service responsible for preparing missile strikes, including the one on the children’s hospital housing 627 critically ill patients, is married and has a son and a daughter. His wife is Elena Mikhailovna Shabalova, born on April 30, 1976.

Ukrainian intelligence has also identified the family’s residential address: 12 Batavina Street, Apartment 266, Saratov, Saratov Region, Russia.

As Ukrinform previously reported, early on July 8, 2024, Russian forces launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine. One missile struck the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv, where 627 children were being treated at the time.

The attack injured eight children and killed two adults. Ninety-four patients were transferred to other medical facilities. A few days later, a boy who had been in intensive care at the time of the strike died from his injuries.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that the hospital was struck by a Kh-101 cruise missile. This conclusion was supported by Bellingcat analysts as well as nuclear weapons and missile technology experts.

On July 11, 2024, the Information Resistance group reported that a Russian pilot from the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division had provided Ukrainian intelligence with documents related to his unit’s operations, along with private photographs of the command staff, following the strike on Okhmatdyt.