A policeman who collaborated with the Russian authorities was killed Thursday by an explosive device in Melitopol, one of the main towns of the occupied zones of southern Ukraine, announced the Russian administration.
Melitopol is the capital of the Russian-invaded part of Ukraine's Zaporizhia region.
Former Chief of Police
The explosion occurred early in the morning in front of an apartment building, said the antenna of the Russian Ministry of the Interior in this region which Russia claimed the annexation last September.
Two police officers were injured and hospitalized, one of them later died in hospital, according to the administration's website, which released a video showing a van and a car damaged by the explosion and bloodstains on the ground nearby.
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The exiled mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, claimed on Telegram that the man killed was a "
collaborator
".
According to him, it is Oleksandr Michchenko, the former police chief of a locality near Melitopol who "
not only went over to the side of the enemy himself but also convinced his colleagues to become traitors
.
With a pre-war population of around 150,000, Melitopol was conquered shortly after the Russian invasion began in February 2022 and now lies around 65 kilometers behind the frontline further north.
The Zaporizhia region is one of the four Ukrainian territories - with those of Donetsk (east), Lugansk (east) and Kherson (south) - which Russia has claimed for annexation in 2022 even if its army does not fully control them.
Last year, several Russian-linked officials died in attacks in occupied Ukrainian areas.