Deadly explosions have rocked office buildings used by Russian-imposed authorities in the occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Luhansk, killing two separatist prosecutors and other officials.
One explosion on September 16 hit the building of the de facto Prosecutor-General's Office of the so-called "Luhansk people's republic" in Ukraine's eastern region of Luhansk, parts of which have been under the control of Kremlin-backed separatists since 2014.
Pro-Russian media reports say separatist de facto Prosecutor-General Sergei Gorenko and his deputy were killed by the blast. According to the reports, an explosive device detonated in Gorenko's office in the regional capital, Luhansk, which is located far from the front line.
SEE ALSO: U.S., EU Express Shock Over Discovery Of Graves In Ukraine; Putin Vows To Press Ahead With WarRussian-appointed Luhansk administrator Leonid Pasechnik in a post on Telegram blamed Kyiv for the attack and called Ukraine a "terrorist state" under its current leadership.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said on Twitter the deaths were either the result of organized crime or a Russian purge of witnesses to "war crimes" in the area.
In a separate attack, Kirill Stremousov, the Russia-appointed deputy governor of Ukraine's Kherson region, said the building of the region's administration was hit by a missile fired by Ukrainian armed forces on September 16. Kyiv has not commented on the statement.
Another Russian-appointed official in Kherson said the chief of the labor department was wounded and her driver killed in the attack.
Stremousov said the missile hit the building as Russia-imposed leaders of the region's districts, towns, and cities were holding a meeting.
Video taken after the explosion showed the building had suffered heavy damage.
Serhiy Khlan, deputy chief of the Kherson regional council in exile, told RFE/RL that the building was a "decision-making center" for the occupation administration.
He also said a meeting was taking place at the time of the attack, and as a result of the explosion, "many Russian soldiers and collaborators died." He said, however, that there was no official data on the victims.
Kherson has been under Russian armed forces' control since March, just weeks after the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine.
In another attack in southern Ukraine, Russian-installed officials said two local officials had been killed overnight in a "double murder" that they also blamed on Ukraine.
Oleg Boyko, the de facto deputy head of the administration of the port town of Berdyansk, and his wife, Lyudmila, who headed a commission preparing a referendum on whether the Zaporizhzhya region should join Russia, were killed in their garage, the city administration said.
There were no further details on the circumstances of the deaths, which could not be independently verified.