FROM UKRAINE WITH LOVE

Ex-Russian Space Boss Wounded by Shrapnel While Celebrating His Birthday: Report

Dmitry Rogozin was one of two pro-Russia officials reportedly wounded after Ukrainian troops shelled the restaurant where he was dining.

The former head of Roscosmos was one of two Russian officials wounded when the Moscow-controlled city of Donetsk came under fire from Ukrainian troops on Wednesday, Reuters reported, citing state-backed news agencies. Dmitry Rogozin, who oversaw the country’s space agency until his July dismissal, was injured when a Ukrainian shelling attack hit the restaurant where he was celebrating his birthday, according to independent Russian outlet SOTA. “Wounded in the back. I will live,” SOTA quoted Rogozin as saying. “The shrapnel [passed] a centimeter from my spine.” Rogozin, also an ex-deputy prime minister of Russia, turned 59 on Wednesday. Russian news agencies reported that Rogozin and several others, including Vitaly Khotsenko, a Ukrainian-born politician serving as the head of the pro-Russian Donetsk government, were wounded at a hotel. Reuters reported that a Russian parliamentarian at the hotel insinuated that the Ukrainian soldiers had targeted the building on a tip.