THIS is the shocking moment a Russian politician was assassinated after being blown up by alleged Ukrainian drones.
Dramatic footage shows a car bursting into flames – killing the Putin stooge in broad daylight.
East2WestThe moment pro-Putin politician Vladimir Leontyev’s car was blown up in a suspected Ukrainian assassination[/caption]
East2WestHis car was blown up in broad daylight[/caption]
East2WestAftermath of the car bombing which killed the Putin stooge[/caption]
Vladimir Leontyev, 61, chairman of the Russian-appointed council in Nova Kakhovka city in Kherson region, died in the bombing.
A security camera caught the blast as he got out of his car and walked into a building.
Ukrainian and Russian sources said it was a drone strike, but other reports suspected a bomb.
Pictures showed his damaged car after the suspected Ukrainian strike.
The gravely injured politician was rushed to the hospital, according to regional head Vladimir Saldo.
He was later pronounced dead.
Two others were also wounded, according to reports.
Leontyev was convicted in absentia by Ukraine in March for “violating the laws and customs of war”.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, accused of “ordering” Russian military forces to abduct and torture the mayor of Beryslav, Oleksandr Shapovalov.
Leontyev had lived and worked in Ukraine before the Russian invasion – and had faced several assassination attempts.
He was awarded the Order of Courage by Vladimir Putin in February 2023.
It comes just days after a wealthy pro-Putin politician was found hanging from a tree with his hands bound.
Vitaly Kapustin, 43, a construction company boss and regional MP, was found swinging 20ft up from a tree branch with tightly bound hands.
Witnesses who spotted him from a highway called the police, and expressed strong doubts that he had taken his own life.
East2WestChairman of the Nova Kakhovka Council Vladimir Leontyev, 61, was killed in a Ukrainian Armed Forces attack on the Kherson region[/caption]
East2WestA security camera caught the blast as he got out of his car and walked into a building[/caption]
One said: “I saw how high up he was. His hands seemed to be tied behind his back.
“A person wouldn’t just climb up there easily, the trees are very tall.”
An investigation has been launched into the death of the millionaire MP who was a member of the staunchly pro-Putin United Russia party.
This is the third suspicious death this week.
A transport boss, Alexander Fedotov, 49, was found dead at a five-star hotel in Moscow.
His body was found outside the five-star Skypoint Luxe hotel at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport.
Fedotov had been staying there on a business trip, and was in a “high floor” room in the hotel, according to reports.
A criminal investigation is underway into his death, and no suicide note was found.
Fedotov’s death comes just one day after the body of a multi-millionaire ex-customs chief was found in a toilet after fleeing a court case.
Boris Avakyan’s corpse was found with “slit wrists” inside the Armenian consulate in St Petersburg.
The 43-year-old had been married to former Mrs World 2014 winner Yulia Ionina, 39.