Assassination attempt on DPR Defense Minister rocks Donetsk
Unknown persons shelled the “Defense Ministry” of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in Donetsk at roughly 19:00 local time on Thursday.
The DPR military said that they believe the explosion in the Defense Ministry building was an assassination attempt on “Minister” Vladimir Kononov, Interfax reports.
“This act of terror is considered an assassination attempt on DPR Defense Minister Vladimir Kononov,” a representative of the DPR Defense Ministry told reporters.
According to the representative, this is already the 11th attempt on Kononov’s life since the start of the armed conflict.
Eduard Basurin, a representative of the DPR militants’ command, said that at the scene of the incident, aside from an abandoned grenade launcher, “another device was found, and there is an opinion that it has been mined”.
The bombardment of the Defense Ministry building was first reported by Russian journalist Alexander Kots. He also published photographs of the scene of the incident from the separatist WarGonzo resource. The shooters allegedly used a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher, which they then threw to the ground before hiding themselves.
Kononov has blamed Ukrainian security service agents for the attack. Kononov claims to have known for months that they want to eliminate him.