A pro-Kremlin politician in Ukraine’s occupied Luhansk region was killed in a car bombing allegedly orchestrated by Kyiv security services, just over a year after he survived a previous assassination attempt.
Oleg Popov, a former deputy of the Moscow-controlled Luhansk Regional Parliament, was in a car traveling near the Avangard sports stadium on Wednesday when it exploded, with video capturing plumes of black smoke shooting into the air
Another footage circulating on Telegram shows a badly crushed car and law enforcement officers gathering evidence at the scene.
Firefighters initially found Popov with critical injuries. His death was later confirmed by his colleague, Yuri Yurov, on his Telegram channel.
Ukraine’s Security Service was allegedly behind the deadly car bombing, according to Ukrainska Pravda, citing inside sources.
A car carrying a pro-Russian politician in the occupied territory of Ukraine was blown up on Wednesday, killing Oleg Popov. @MLNRLive / Telegram Popov previously served as a deputy of the Moscow-controlled Luhansk Regional Parliament in the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic. People’s Council of the Luhansk People’s Republic
The source claims Popov was targeted because before he started his career in politics, he was in charge of a pro-Russian volunteer corps that targeted Ukrainians.
Popov’s death came less than 15 months after he survived a previous attempt on his life, also allegedly orchestrated by Ukrainian security services, according to Yurov, who did not elaborate beyond saying it happened on September 20 last year.
The car was traveling near Luhansk’s “Avangard” stadium when it exploded. Sputnik News / Maxim Zakharov’s video shows a plume of black smoke rising above the scene of the car explosion. MLNR LIVE Firefighters responded to extinguish the fire and found Popov. MLNR LIVE
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had launched a criminal investigation into allegations of terrorism, illegal trafficking and the production of explosives in connection with the explosion in Luhansk.
Denis Miroshnichenko, chairman of the People’s Council of the Luhansk People’s Republic, offered his condolences to Popov’s family, calling the former deputy “a principled and hard-working man with a firm character who wholeheartedly looked after the fate of the Motherland.”
Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had launched a criminal investigation into allegations of terrorism. @MLNRLive / Telegram Security Service of Ukraine allegedly behind Popov’s murder. @MLNRLive / Telegram Popov has survived another assassination attempt in September 2022. Peace for Lugansk Region
Popov is not the first pro-Kremlin politician from Russian-inspired Luhansk to meet a violent end since the start of the war.
On November 9, Mikhail Filiponenko, also a former deputy in the Luhansk Regional Parliament, was killed in a very similar car bombing.
Ukraine’s military spy agency was quick to take credit for Filiponenko’s death, calling him a “war criminal” and describing the attack as a warning that “Ukrainian traitors and collaborators with Russian terrorists… will receive just retribution!”
Russia has previously accused Ukraine’s special services of orchestrating the car bombing that killed propagandist Daria Dugina outside Moscow last year and the killing of military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in a St. Petersburg cafe. Petersburg in April.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
