Ukraine wasted no time in taking responsibility for the assassination of a Moscow-backed lawmaker in Luhansk on Wednesday. Mikhail Filiponenko, a member of the Kremlin-installed local assembly in the occupied eastern Ukrainian city, died when his car exploded at around 8:40 a.m. local time. “Yeah, it was our operation,” Andriy Cherniak, a representative of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR), told Politico of the attack. Filiponenko, who was born in Luhansk, had previously been involved in the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic’s army and had been active in the area’s pro-Russia separatist movement. In a statement, the GUR said Filiponenko was “involved in the organization of torture camps” in the occupied Luhansk region, adding that he “personally brutally tortured people.” “The GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine states that all war criminals and collaborators will receive a fair retribution!” the statement added.
