Russian-backed separatists claimed that Ukraine’s Defense Ministry could have organized the alleged attempted attack.
The Russian TASS news site reported that an attempted terrorist attack had been thwarted in Luhansk, a city controlled by pro-Russian separatists in the disputed Donbas region, on Tuesday, amid continuing concerns of a possible Russian invasion into Ukraine.
The report claimed that the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and Ukrainian special services may have been involved.
According to the report, an improvised explosive device was discovered in a trash can in the city where a rally for the Russian Memorial Day of soldiers-internationalists, which commemorates those soldiers who fell while operating abroad, was planned.
The Ministry of State Security of the Luhansk People’s Republic stated that the alleged explosive device could have caused civilian casualties if it had not been found and neutralized.
Additionally, on Tuesday afternoon, the People’s Militia of the LPR reported that one of its members had been shot and killed by Ukrainian forces, saying that they responded with artillery fire against Ukrainian positions.
The alleged IED was made of a mobile phone, electronic detonator, two TNT blocks and metal rods, according to the report.
During a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that “what is happening in the Donbass is genocide.
Over 870,000 residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics have acquired Russian citizenship, said Viktor Vodolatsky, first deputy chairman of Russian State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, on Tuesday, according to TASS.
The State Duma presented Putin with a draft appeal to recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics as independent on Tuesday. Putin said the vast majority of Russians support the separatists, adding that he wanted to solve the issues regarding Donbass according to the Minsk agreements.
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