Pro-Moscow politician and former militia head killed in Luhansk car bombing

A pro-Russian politician and a former head of the so-called People’s Militia in the “Luhansk People’s Republic”, an unrecognised Russian-occupied region of eastern Ukraine, has been killed in a car bomb. 

Mikhail Filiponenko died immediately in the explosion in the city of Luhansk on Tuesday morning. His son, Ivan, confirmed the news, telling a local website that an explosive device had detonated in his father’s car, fatally injuring him.

Russia news agency RIA Novosti published images of the attack’s aftermath in Luhansk in which a badly damaged driver’s door can be seen, as well as traces of blood on the driver’s seat.

This was not the first attempt on Filiponenko’s life, according to RIA. He was also the target of a car bombing last February in which his driver was injured but that he survived unscathed.