Injured former Russian space boss shares post-surgery photo — RT Russia and the former Soviet Union
Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, shared a first photo after the operation.
He was injured on December 21 when a hotel in Donetsk where he was staying and celebrating his 59th birthday came under artillery fire. Russian media reported that two people were killed and several injured in the attack.
In the photo posted to his page on Russian social media platform VK on Thursday morning, Rogozin sits in what appears to be a hospital room, raising his right fist. « He who is ready to go all the way is always a winner » Rogozin wrote.
Shortly after the shelling, Rogozin told RT from hospital that he had suffered a back injury and « shrapnel fell within a centimeter of the spine.
Russian TV channel RBC quoted Rogozin’s assistant as saying on Saturday that doctors had extracted a metal fragment from his body. « [The fragment] almost hit his lung,” said the assistant, adding that Rogozin suffered a concussion.
According to the Russian investigative commission, Ukrainian troops struck the hotel using French-made Caesar self-propelled howitzers. Rogozin suggested that Ukrainian troops fired on the station because they wanted to kill Vitaly Khotsenko, the prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, who was also injured in the attack.
The Ukrainian Border Guards (DPSU) issued a statement on December 22, accusing Rogozin of « Illegally crossing the Ukrainian border ». The DPSU added that it had « identified where he was in the territory temporarily occupied by Russia. »
« We were unable to personally serve the offender with his indictment, so concerned comrades handed it to him in the middle of a birthday party, » wrote the DPSU.
Known for his warmongering rhetoric towards the West, Rogozin served as Russia’s envoy to NATO between 2008 and 2011. He then served as deputy prime minister for seven years and headed Roscosmos from 2018 to July 2022.
He said last month he was leading the Tsar Wolves, a group of volunteer military advisers in Donbass seeking to help local authorities in areas such as targeting equipment and communications.
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