A Russian air force commander who was suspected of carrying out a lethal bombing strike on a shopping mall in Ukraine was discovered dead from bludgeoning.

After his damaged body was discovered in the Bryansk area of Russia, Ukraine’s military intelligence service said that “war criminal” Col. Dmitry Golenkov was killed with the “hammer of justice.”

In June 2022, Golenkov allegedly gave the order to destroy the Amstor retail mall in Kremenchuk. With 22 fatalities and 59 injuries, it continues to rank among the most catastrophic attacks on civilian targets in the two-and-a-half-year conflict.

At the time, there were a thousand people packed in.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, called it one of the “most brazen terrorist acts in European history.”

“Only the attempt of people to live a normal life, which so angers the occupiers,” he added, adding that the retail mall had no strategic significance to Russia and presented no threat to its soldiers.

A upgraded variant of a long-range strategic bomber from the Soviet period, the Tupolev Tu-22M3 was deployed in wartime missions in Ukraine.

The killing’s method is unknown, although throughout the conflict, partisans and special forces have been operating further inside Russia and its controlled territory.

Golenkov’s body is shown on camera laying face down in the Suponevo village’s shrubland, his head covered in blood.

According to the GUR, he was the head of staff of the 52nd heavy bomber aviation regiment’s aircraft squadron, which was stationed in the nearby Kaluga area.

“He was involved in missile strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets,” the statement continued.

There has been no response from the Russian military ministry.

Ukraine’s military intelligence has previously alleged Golenkov was killed behind enemy lines.

In seized areas, Ukrainian agents have executed dozens of collaborators. An agent killed a Russian military blogger inside a café in St. Petersburg last year by planting a bomb inside a bust.