Putin crony Valeriy Chaika killed by car bomb in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Luhansk region

A PUTIN crony has been blown up by a bomb planted in his car in the Ukrainian breakaway region of Luhansk.

Cossack leader Valeriy Chaika, 74, was head of an educational centre pumping out Russian propaganda to children.

Valeriy Chaika was killed when his Mitsubishi Pajero SUV exploded in StarobilskEast2west

Cossack leader Chaika, 74, was boss of an educational centre pumping out Russian propaganda to kids

He was killed when his Mitsubishi Pajero SUV exploded in the city of Starobilsk.

It is in the eastern Ukraine region of Donbas, seized in 2014 by pro-Moscow separatists who set up the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic.

Investigators there said: “The circumstances of the incident and the people involved in the commission of the crime are being established.”

Several officials and collaborators have been targeted by car bombings in annexed areas of Ukraine.

Kyiv generally does not comment on the assassinations.

In September 2022, Russia declared that it had annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.

Kremlin officials said that all four regions – which represent around 15 percent of Ukraine’s overall territory – had voted to join their country.

The referendums were declared illegal by most of the international community.

Footage emerged of voters being led to the ballot boxes at gunpoint by pro-Russian paramilitary groups, while election officials were seen appearing to count stacks of unmarked ballot papers as ‘Yes’ votes.