Iruni Kalupahana JadeTimes Staff
I. Kalupahana is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Russia-Ukraine war
Sergei Yevsyukov, the former head of the Olenivka Prison in Russian occupied Ukraine, reportedly died in a car blast in Donetsk. The explosion, from an explosive device equivalent to about 100g of TNT planted under his car, also critically injured his wife, who lost a leg.
Yevsyukov was in charge during a missile strike on the prison in July 2022 that killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Russia blamed Ukraine for the strike, but Kyiv accused Moscow of targeting the prison to destroy evidence of torture and war crimes.
It represents the second in a string of attacks against pro Kremlin figures in occupied territories and within Russia.
In November, Ukraine's intelligence service blew up a car belonging to senior naval officer Valery Trankovsky, whom Ukrainian authorities accuse of war crimes.
Other attacks have killed a Moscow appointed official in Luhansk and also injured an official at the Russian noccupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Partially controlled by Russia since 2014, Donetsk has remained one of the hotspots in the war. The region has seen some of the most intense fighting of the war and is central to escalating tensions.
Yevsyukov's killing underlines the continued struggle over occupied territories and underscores Ukraine's strategy of targeting key pro Russian figures as the war progresses.
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