Russia-Appointed Official Survives Assassination Attempt in Ukraine: Report

A Kremlin-installed leader in the occupied city of Melitopol in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region has reportedly survived an assassination attempt.

Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti said that Melitopol's de facto Deputy Sports Minister Andrei Boyko had been hospitalized following a blast on Friday morning.

"A directed explosion was carried out with the aim of killing him," Vladimir Rogov, an official in the Russian-backed administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, told the news agency.

"An improvised explosive device went off in a residential building in the courtyard of a multi-story building, where many civilians could be affected," he said.

Boyko was reportedly hospitalized with minor, non-life-threatening injuries.

According to another Russian-appointed official in the region, acting governor Yevgeny Balitsky, Boyko suffered slight concussion.

The front of the apartment building was damaged and windows were broken on several floors, he said.

According to Russia's Investigative Committee, an explosive device was placed in a storm drain by the entrance to the residential building.

An investigation is reportedly underway.

Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov responded to the news of the assassination attempt.

"The morning started loud and hot for another collaborator in Melitopol," he wrote on his Telegram channel. "According to preliminary information, the explosion rang out in the entrance of the high-rise building where Andrei Boyko lived."

Newsweek has reached out to Russian and Ukrainian authorities for comment.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion against Ukraine on February 24, multiple Kremlin-appointed officials in territories occupied by Russian forces have been killed.

Moscow has accused Kyiv of carrying out targeted strikes against Russian-appointed officials who have been working with the Kremlin amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

In September, multiple Russian-installed officials were killed in a single day across Ukraine.

And on Wednesday, Kirill Stremousov, a Kremlin-installed leader of occupied Kherson in Ukraine, was killed in an alleged car accident, according to local officials.

The death of Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-appointed military-civilian regional administration, was first reported by Russian military journalist Semyon Pegov, blogger Boris Rozhin and the state-run news channel Russia Today (RT). Later, the press secretary of the head of the region confirmed the news, according to the Russian news agency Tass.

Russian military correspondents in Kherson said Stremousov died in a car accident at Genichesk in the Kherson region. Pegov said that Stremousov's death was confirmed by his personal driver.

The region's health minister, Vadim Ilmiev, told reporters that the accident occurred on the Kherson-Armyansk highway. The circumstances surrounding the accident are currently under investigation.

A funeral was held for Stremousov on Friday in Simferopol, and attendees included Putin allies Yevhen Balytskyi, Volodymyr Saldo, Mikhail Razvozhayev and Sergei Aksyonov, RIA Novosti reported.