The former Kremlin-installed mayor of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine was killed in an explosion in the city’s center, local media reported Thursday.
“Unfortunately, it’s true,” the state-run Luhansk Information Center quoted an unidentified relative of ex-Mayor Manolis Pilavov as saying.
Authorities in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic confirmed one death and three injuries in the blast but did not name any of the victims.
Investigators said they launched a criminal investigation into the explosion.
Video published by law enforcement authorities showed a blown-out entrance door to a residential building.
Mash, a Telegram news channel with ties to Russian security services, reported that a bomb went off when someone opened the door. The outlet later claimed that a woman may have unknowingly been carrying an explosive device in her purse.
It was not immediately possible to verify that report.
Pilavov served as the Moscow-backed mayor of Luhansk from 2014, when pro-Russian forces seized the city, until 2023.
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