Get Guardian on Google
An official with the Russian occupying authorities in Ukraine’s Kherson region has died after an assassination attempt, local Moscow-backed authorities said.
[ad]
Vitaly Gura, the deputy chief of the Kakhovka district, “died of his injuries”, local official Katerina Gubareva, said on Telegram.
Gura was attacked at home on Saturday morning and was gravely wounded by bullets, a source in the Russian-backed administration told TASS news agency.
Kakhovka is about 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Kherson city.
Several assassination attempts have been reported against officials in Ukrainian regions seized by Russia since the start of its military operation in Ukraine in February.
Russia has taken control of a large part of the Kherson region and part of nearby Zaporizhzhia in recent months, and has started to introduce the ruble as currency and to distribute Russian passports there.
A Ukrainian army counteroffensive has managed to claw back parts of the Kherson region, but has not yet managed to break through Russian defences to reach Kherson city.
[ad]
