A Kremlin-installed official was killed by a Ukrainian drone strike in southern Ukraine’s frontline Kherson region, pro-Russian authorities said Wednesday.
Vladimir Leontyev, 61, started collaborating with Russian forces and was appointed mayor of the town of Nova Kakhovka soon after it was captured in April 2022. That month, Ukraine charged Leontyev with collaborating with the aggressor state.
Leontyev was hospitalized in grave condition after an early-morning Ukrainian drone strike, the Moscow-backed head of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, wrote on Telegram.
State media shared surveillance camera video claiming to show the moment a powerful explosion injured Leontyev as he was entering a building. It claimed two other civilians were wounded in the blast.
Saldo said an hour later that Leontyev succumbed to his wounds.
“A true patriot who loved Russia and the Kherson region dearly fell victim to a cruel attack by the enemy at his combat post,” Saldo wrote. “He was one of the earliest supporters of [the pro-Putin ruling party] United Russia.”
In June 2023, Leontyev accused Ukraine of attempting to kill him with a Western-supplied missile strike.
Nova Kakhovka is a town under Russia's control on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River.
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