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Ukraine admitted to blowing up a close ally of Vladimir Putin in the occupied region of Luhansk in retribution for his pro-Moscow stance.
Mikhail Filiponenko was branded a “war criminal” and an “executioner” running “torture camps” in the region, subjecting prisoners of war and even civilians to “inhumane” treatments.
Ukraine’s military spy agency admitted Filiponenko was targeted in a car bomb attack after photos emerged showing a mangled SUV with a blood-blood soaked backseat.
In a statement following the explosion, they said: “Filiponenko himself personally brutally tortured people.”
The agency also said the car bombing would serve as a clear warning to “traitors to Ukraine and collaborators with terrorist Russia in temporarily occupied territories … will receive just retribution!”
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Filiponenko was a member of the pro-Moscow Luhansk regional parliament and was no novice to attempts on his life.
Only days before Putin authorised the launch of Ukraine’s invasion nearly two years ago, the lawmaker survived another blast on February 21, 2022.
He became involved with separatist militias in Luhansk in 2014, when he became one of the top commanders of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic.
Kyiv designated the group a terrorist organization after separatists seized government buildings and declared the region an independent state following Putin’s annexation of Crimea.
The head of the internationally unrecognised republic Leonid Pasechnik decried Filiponenko’s death describing it as a “heavy loss”.
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Writing on Telegram, Pasexhnik wrote: “We lost a smart, kind, positive person, a real patriot of the Luhansk homeland and its brave defender.”
Putin’s Investigative Committee launched an inquiry into Filiponenko’s death, labelling the bombing an “act of terror.”
Last year, Moscow had accused Kyiv’s intelligence of orchestrating the car bombing that killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of far-right philosopher and Putin supporter Aleksandr Dugin.
Ukraine normally denies or declines to comment on allegations of direct intervention for the elimination of pro-Putin actors both in Russia and in its territory.
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