A pro-Kremlin politician branded a war criminal by Ukraine has been killed in a car bombing in occupied Luhansk, the second killing of its kind this week.
Footage showed ‘Deputy of the People’s Council of the Luhansk People’s Republic’ Oleg Popov’s burning car after an explosion near the city stadium.
The Kyiv Post reported that the ‘special operation’ was organised by the Security Service of Ukraine, later confirmed by a secret service source speaking to Pravda.
A source told the Post that Popov, 51, was a ‘quite legitimate target, because before becoming a deputy he managed many Russian volunteer battalions, led illegal armed formations, and killed Ukrainians.’
‘Undermining the leader is the best advertisement for the effectiveness of this committee’s work,’ the source said.
It was the second killing of a Ukrainian ‘traitor’ this week, with ex-MP Ilya Kyva, 46, shot dead near a country club near Moscow where he lived in exile on Wednesday.
Local MP Oleg Popov, 51, was killed in a car bombing on 6 December in occupied Luhansk city
Image shows the outcome of a fatal car bombing in Luhansk, near the stadium, on December 6
It was first reported Popov had been injured in an attack in Luhansk on Wednesday.
But the Investigative Committee of Russia later confirmed Popov’s death had been caused by a device exploded in his car.
‘As a result of the car explosion near the Avangard sports stadium in Luhansk, our colleague… Oleg Nikolaevich Popov died,’ confirmed Yuri Yurov, another deputy in Luhansk’s regional parliament.
A criminal case has been opened into the car bombing, with Russia’s FSB involved.
‘It was the second assassination attempt on Oleg. The first was on September 20, 2022,’ he added, blaming Ukraine for the first attempt.
In September 2022, Popov’s death was first reported as a result of a contract killing.
But in February 2023, Popov went back to work. The reports of his death were called part of Russia’s ‘operational game’.
He became into a local politician in the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic after joining an armed pro-Putin grouping that grabbed the SBU intelligence service building in the region in 2014, when Russian forces took over the Donbas region.
Oleg Popov was the head of the committee on state security and defence in the Russian occupied region of Luhansk.
He is one of dozens of high-profile backers of Russia’s invasion targeted since the February 2022 invasion.
Also on Wednesday, prominent Ukrainian foe Ilya Kyva was killed in exile in the grounds of Velich Country Club, Russia.
It was revealed today that he had been shot twice in the head and chest but staggered on to try and get help before collapsing in the snow.
His body was found by club employees around one hour after he was shot by a suspected SBU assassin operating close to Moscow.
The club’s director Yulia Sinitsina said a resident had found the body and told her.
‘I called the police,’ she said.
Kyva had lived at the club – which had hotel facilities and ‘good security’- with a girlfriend, said reports.
In April last year, Kyva urged Putin to use weapons of mass destruction against his own country amid growing fears that Russia could resort to using nukes (File Photo)
Kyva had been charged with treason for supporting Putin before his sudden death(File Photo)
He had been shot while walking in the grounds.
One theory is that the assassin was another guest staying at the club.
The Russian Investigative Committee is probing the killing.
Hours before the killing, Kyva had in his final social media post that a defeated Volodymyr Zelensky would be forced to flee to Britain.
A Kremlin propagandist, who appeared on obediently state TV shows, he had alleged Zelensky was an MI6 stooge and cocaine addict.
Five hours before his death from a suspect knife wound to the left temple, he posted: ‘Zelensky’s only option is to flee to England, but even from there he is extradited when it is favourable to the Crown or dies when it is necessary for the Kremlin.’
Kyva – a regular on Putin TV propaganda shows – was wanted in his homeland for high treason in backing Putin’s invasion.
A former policeman and official, he led the Socialist party in the Ukrainian parliament from 2017-19.
In 2019 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Ukrainian presidency, but then turned to Russia.
He asked Putin for political asylum, and a Russian passport, having earlier unleashed his vitriol against Moscow.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said: ‘Regardless of the incident with Kyva, it is very important for everyone who actively cooperates with the Russian occupation administrations in one way or another to understand that their risks are extreme.
‘Even if they are located on Russian territory.
‘Of course, the activity and capabilities of the Ukrainian special services have grown enormously over the past two years.
‘Risks for such people will be preserved or even multiplied.’
Kyva was kicked out of parliament shortly after Russia invaded in February last year for repeating Kremlin propaganda that the country was overrun with Nazis, has no future and needs to be ‘liberated’ by Putin (File Photo)
Ukraine’s military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov also made clear his state was responsible for the killing.
‘We can confirm that [Ilya] Kyva is the real deal,’ he said.
‘This is the fate that befalls the biggest traitors of Ukraine, as well as the henchmen of the Putin regime.
‘He was one of the biggest and most disgusting scum, a traitor and collaborator.
‘So here we can only state that justice….has different forms…
‘Among others, characters like Kyva…unfortunately, there are still plenty in Russia.’
