Blast kills LPR prosecutor general

An explosion in Lugansk, the capital of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), killed the region’s chief prosecutor and his deputy on Friday, according to local officials. 

Sergey Gorenko, the prosecutor general of the LPR, as well as his deputy, Ekaterina Steglenko, have succumbed to wounds incurred by the blast.

The staff of the prosecutor office has been evacuated. According to local security forces, a home-made bomb went off in the building. The preliminary data suggest that this was a terrorist attack. The exact number of casualties is so far unclear.

Videos posted on social media show that the explosion damaged the third floor of the building.

The republic, along with the neighboring Donetsk People’s Republic, was recognized as independent by Russia in late February, prior to the beginning of the military campaign in Ukraine. The LPR was fully liberated from Kiev’s troops in early July by Russian and allied forces.

On Friday, a Ukrainian missile attack hit the office of the pro-Russian administration in the southern city of Kherson, killing one employee and injuring one official. On the same day, a Ukrainian strike killed one civilian and injured two in the Russian town of Valuyki, not far from the Ukrainian border.