The first official confirmation of the death of Captain First Rank Robert Shageev, who died in a show explosion in the occupied Sevastopol on August 13, 2026, has appeared.
The information was finally proven today, August 16, after an investigation by independent journalists and data from official Russian state registers.
How was the liquidation confirmed?
The investigative project “The Executioners' Book“, together with journalists from The Insider, found irrefutable evidence in the database of the Russian Federal Tax Service. Shageev's personal TIN (tax identification number) was officially entered in the register of invalid numbers of individuals with an expiration date of August 13, 2026 - the day of the assassination attempt. This puts an end to speculation by the Russian authorities, who until now had only acknowledged the death of an “unnamed serviceman from the Ministry of Defense“.
Details of the August 13 attack
The incident occurred on the morning of August 13 on Stoletovsky Prospekt in a residential area of Sevastopol. A powerful explosive device hidden in a roadside trash can detonated just as 49-year-old Shageev was walking down the nearby stairs. The officer died on the spot from his serious injuries.
Russian law enforcement agencies have already arrested 32-year-old Russian citizen Margarita Reut, originally from Yaroslavl, for a period of two months. According to the investigation, she is acted on behalf of the Ukrainian special services in exchange for a promise of a reward in cryptocurrency. According to information from channels close to the security forces, Reut has admitted her guilt and stated that she does not feel any remorse for her actions.
Who is Robert Shageev and why was he targeted?
Robert Shageev is considered one of the largest military defectors to the Russian side after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. At that time, he was the commander of the only Ukrainian submarine “Zaporozhye“. Instead of carrying out orders to rebase in Odessa, Shageev handed over the submarine to the Russian Navy without a fight and took the oath of allegiance to Moscow.
He subsequently built a career in the Russian army as deputy commander of the 4th separate submarine brigade of the Black Sea Fleet. In Ukraine, he was charged in absentia with treason and desertion. Ukrainian intelligence claims that its unit is directly responsible for the launch of Kalibr cruise missiles from submarines against peaceful Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.
Official Kiev maintains its traditional silence and does not take direct responsibility for the liquidation. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indirectly commented on the increasing incidents in Crimea, emphasizing in his statement that “the responsibility of collaborators is completely inevitable“.