Two of Putin’s leading officials were targeted in Luhansk (Picture:East2West News)
Two of Vladimir Putin’s senior security officials have suffered serious injuries after a car bombing.
Deputy interior minister Lt-Col Oleg Shumilov and criminal investigations chief Lt-Col Vladimir Pakholenko are both fighting for their lives following the blast.
The incident happened in the Ukrainian city of Luhansk, which is under Russian occupation.
Footage from the scene shows an inferno raging from the UAZ Patriot vehicle after it blew up.
Both of Putin’s officials escaped from the burning car but are in hospital with severe shrapnel wounds, according to local reports.
A criminal probe has been launched into what is being considered as an attempted assassination.
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The SUV was reportedly being driven by Lt Col Pakholenko, who previously worked for the Ukrainian ministry of internal affairs.
He later switched his allegiance to the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), which is led by Russia, in 2014.
It is the latest in a string of sabotage operations inside Ukrainian territory controlled by Russia.
On November 8, the former head of the LPR police, Mykhailo Filipenko, was also killed by a car bomb in Luhansk, according to news outlet Astra.
The attack will also serve as yet another blow to the Russian president with several key positions coming under attack in recent weeks.
On Thursday, a ‘kamikaze drone strike’ destroyed a missile base just days after Ukraine reportedly hit a Russian gunpowder factory and missile plant.
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