The leader of a Russia-backed separatist group in eastern Ukraine has been injured in an assassination attempt, the separatists say.
Igor Plotnitsky, the head of a group that calls itself the Luhansk People's Republic, "was wounded this morning as a result of a powerful explosion that occurred near his car," the official separatists' news agency reported on August 6.
The report said Plotnitsky was being treated at a local hospital along with several other people who suffered injuries in the blast in the city of Luhansk.
A top official in the group, Serhiy Kozlov, said Plotnitsky was in stable condition and that there is no threat to his life.
Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for Kyiv's military operations in the east, said the Ukrainian side was not involved in the attack.
Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk has killed more than 9,500 people since April 2014.
