MOSCOW, Russia: An election worker was killed by a car bomb in the Russian-controlled city of Berdyansk in southern Ukraine, the Russian government said on Wednesday.
Since the Russian government launched a full-scale military operation in Ukraine two years ago, a number of Russian-appointed officials have been targeted in apparent assassination plots.
Wednesday’s attack, reported by the Russian Investigative Committee, took place ahead of Russian presidential elections later this month in five Ukrainian regions that the Kremlin claims to have annexed.
The investigation committee announced in a statement that on the morning of March 6, an improvised explosive device was planted under the car of a member of the electoral commission. This statement added the deceased died in the medical center due to the severity of his injuries.
In 2022, Russia claimed to have annexed the territory of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson, as well as the Zaporizhzhia region, where the port city of Berdyansk is located, even though it does not have full military control.
A vote will also be held in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014 after a referendum widely condemned as a sham.
