The health minister of the "Lugansk People's
Republic" was killed by a bomb allegedly dropped on the regional
administration headquarters by a Ukrainian government warplane on Monday, a
spokesman for the unilaterally proclaimed republic said.
"Our minister of health, Natalya Arkhipova, was killed
because of the bombing of the building of the regional administration by the
air force," the spokesman told Interfax. "Apparently, she was
standing on the front door porch speaking to another woman during the air
raid."
Earlier, the press service denied that anyone in the
"Lugansk People's Republic" leadership had been hurt and said five
civilians had died and several militia members had received serious wounds. The
head of the regional administration's health department confirmed there had
been an explosion inside the headquarters and said at least two people had been
killed.
"The casualties are still being counted, but two people
have definitely been killed," Pavlo Malysh told Interfax. Police claimed
to have no knowledge of the origin of the blast, but the "Lugansk People's
Republic" militia claimed that a Ukrainian warplane had dropped a bomb on
the building.
Militia fighters in the Lugansk region has said that the
Ukrainian government forces started bombing Lugansk, as reported by Interfax
agency.
"A Ukrainian military bomber has dropped a bomb
into the center of the city, which blew up close to the building of the Lugansk
regional state administration where the Lugansk People's Republic administration
is based. There are numerous deaths and injuries among militiamen and
civilians," a representative of the LPR militia headquarters told Interfax
on Monday.
Meanwhile, a major fire broke out inside the regional
administration building, an Interfax correspondent said. There are ambulances
and firefighting vehicles nearby. At least five people have been injured. Some
people could still be inside the building.
The Kiev authorities are massing troops around Lugansk, but
local self-defense forces are ready to repulse the aggression, President of the
Lugansk People’s Republic Valery Bolotov said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday night, Ukrainian troops loyal to Kiev opened fire
on the town of Rubezhnoye, not far from Lugansk, every five-to-ten minutes,
local residents report on the Рубежное.org.ua web portal.
Kiev-controlled militants of the so-called National Guard
used percussion bullets in an attack on Rubezhnoye, a spokesman for the local
self-defense volunteer corps told the RIA Novosti news agencies.
"There have been skirmishes and gunfire. The enemy
continues to mass troops and hardware. They constantly change locations and
sometimes line up in battle array," Bolotov told reporters in Lugansk.
The self-defense forces have had time to prepare for a
possible enemy attack and "have several fully and combat-ready
units", he said.
In the middle of April, the coup-installed Kiev government
launched a military operation in the southeast Lugansk and Donetsk regions to
punish them for not recognizing the new government’s legitimacy.
Russia demands an immediate end to the punitive operation in
southeast Ukraine, which has already claimed dozens of lives.
Lugansk People’s Republic to hold parliamentary election in
September 14 – LPP premier
The self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic (LPP) is
planning to elect its parliament on September 14, LPP Prime Minister Vasily
Nikitin said on Wednesday.
"A parliamentary election may presumably be held on
September 14. That’s the date proposed by me," Nikitin told reporters in
Lugansk.
Parallel local elections may also be held on September 14,
he said.
After the May 11 independence referendum, the LPP formed an
interim parliament.
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