Ukraine Admits Assassination of Russian-Backed Official in Luhansk Car Bomb Attack

Ukrainian military intelligence confirms it executed the car bombing in retaliation for the Moscow-installed official's alleged history of running torture camps.

Ukrainian military intelligence confirmed the assassination of a Russian-backed official, Mikhail Filiponenko, via a car bomb in the occupied region of Luhansk due to his alleged involvement in running torture camps.
The car bombing marked the latest attack on high-profile supporters of Russia's assault on Ukraine and Moscow-installed officials in territories seized by Russian forces since the conflict began in February 2022.
Filiponenko, a member of the local legislature and a former police chief, had survived a previous car bombing on February 21, 2022, three days before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Filiponenko's death is part of Ukraine's broader retribution campaign against 'traitors to Ukraine and collaborators with terrorist Russia in temporarily occupied territories,' as described by Ukraine's Defense Intelligence.
The news comes amid ongoing conflict in the region, including recent sentencing of a Ukrainian soldier by a Russian military court for allegedly shooting a civilian suspected of being a Russian infiltrator, and continued aerial and ground assaults that have resulted in civilian casualties.