IED event in Luhansk, Luhansk area, Ukraine on Wed 8th November 2023

Mikhail Filiponenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin was killed in a car bomb attack in the occupied city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, an official said.

Filiponenko, a lawmaker in the Moscow-backed Luhansk assembly, had been active in the region's pro-Russian separatist movement since 2014, Reuters reported. Luhansk is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia says it annexed in the fall of 2022.

"An hour ago in Luhansk, our colleague, deputy of the People's Council of the LPR [Luhansk People's Republic], former head of the JCCC of the LPR, former head of the department of the People's Militia of the LPR, the man who stood at the origins of the creation of the people's militia of the republic, Colonel Mikhail Yuryevich Filiponenko, tragically died," Yurov wrote. "The kingdom of heaven! We mourn together with our families and loved ones!"

Filiponenko's son, Ivan, told local news agency the Luhansk Information Center that his father was killed after an explosive device went off in his car.

Russian media published photos showing Filiponenko's damaged vehicle, with blood smeared across the driver's seat and a back window.

Drivers passing by saw the explosion, according to state media. One of the eyewitnesses told state-run news agency RIA Novosti that people tried to help Filiponenko, but he died at the scene.

Russia's Investigative Committee said that it had launched a criminal investigation into the car bomb attack.

Ukraine hasn't commented. Newsweek has contacted the foreign ministries of Russia and Ukraine by email for comment.