Andrey Pinchuk, Former Commander of BARS-13 and Former Head of the ‘DPR Ministry of State Security,’ Targeted in Assassination Attempt in Moscow Region

An assassination attempt was made in Novaya Moskva on former ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’s Minister of State Security’ Andrey Pinchuk, who has been participating in the war against Ukraine since 2014.

This was reported by the Russian Telegram channel Mash.

The incident occurred in the village of Shchapovo. According to preliminary reports, a courier delivered a package containing an explosive device to Pinchuk.

After he opened it, an explosion occurred, but Pinchuk himself survived. Footage released shows damage to the house: the blast wave shattered windows and damaged doors. Pinchuk told the Russian propaganda channel Tsargrad TV that he avoided injury thanks to his quick reaction and the armored doors.

Andrey Pinchuk is a native of Ulyanovsk and a former employee of the Russian special services. In the spring of 2014, he arrived in the occupied part of the Donetsk region, where he helped establish the security forces of the Russia-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic group.

In July 2014, Pinchuk headed the so-called ‘DPR Ministry of State Security’ and was responsible for forming the pseudo-republic’s counterintelligence and punitive agencies.

His agency was engaged in identifying pro-Ukrainian activists, conducting detentions and interrogations, and combating opponents of the occupation administration. After resigning in 2015, Pinchuk returned to Russia, where he continued his public activities as a political commentator and regularly supported Russian aggression against Ukraine in the media.

It is worth noting that this is not the first assassination attempt on representatives of the Russian security apparatus in recent weeks. For instance, on June 9, 2026, in Balashikha, near Moscow, as a result of a car bombing, Colonel Damir Davydov, who was responsible for supplying rocket and artillery ammunition to the Russian army, was killed.