A high-ranking Russian-appointed member of Luhansk occupation authorities has been found dead in occupied eastern Ukraine under unclear circumstances, according to Petro Andriushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation. Russian national Kirill Grekov, the so-called “Deputy Prosecutor General of the Luhansk People's Republic,” was reportedly discovered hanged in occupied Luhansk, as local authorities avoid commenting publicly on the case.

Russian prosecutor found hanged in occupied Luhansk

Petro Andriushchenko reported the discovery of Grekov’s body on 6 November. He stated that Grekov had been appointed by Moscow and was sent to the Russian-occupied territory to carry out key duties on behalf of Russian authorities. According to Andriushchenko, Grekov had tense relations with both local residents and so-called officials, often becoming entangled in conflicts that may have led to what he described as a “tragic end.”

Andriushchenko noted that Grekov’s death is being concealed from the public. Authorities of the so-called “LNR” have avoided making any statements about the incident, and no coverage has appeared in the regional occupation-controlled media. Obozrevatel confirmed that no information regarding Grekov’s death had been published by the “media” of the pseudo-republic. 

Grekov’s last appearance on the “LNR prosecutor's office” website was on 23 August 2025.

Grekov's predecessor died in explosion, alongside her chief

Grekov, a Russian policeman from Rostov, was appointed to the “LNR” in late 2022 directly to the position of so-called deputy prosecutor. He is listed in the Myrotvorets database, which gathers personal information on Russians and collaborators involved in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

His appointment came just months after an earlier deadly incident in the same office. In 2022, the so-called then “LNR Prosecutor General” Sergei Gorenko and his deputy Yekaterina Steglenko were killed when an explosive device detonated inside Gorenko’s office. It remains unclear whether their deaths were the result of internal purges aimed at replacing pro-Russian locals with Russians, or a targeted operation by Ukraine’s Security Service. At the time, the Office of the President of Ukraine referred to the deaths as a “conflict among criminals.”

The current so-called “LNR Prosecutor General” is Gleb Mikhailov, a Russian citizen from Dagestan.

The Ukrainian Army's Special Operations Forces (SSO) struck Russian-controlled fuel infrastructure in occupied Luhansk Oblast overnight on 27 October. They reported destroying a front-line fuel storage site in Starobilsk and an oil depot in Luhansk city. The footage, shared by the SSO, showed fires in Starobilsk, yet the damage from the Luhansk strike remains unconfirmed.

Special forces strike fuel targets overnight

The SSO reported that the strikes targeted logistical sites used by Russian forces in the occupied part of Luhansk Oblast. The attack was carried out by drones at a time when the fuel tanks were filled, which they said intensified the effect.

Footage released by the SSO shows the first-person view from long-range drone strikes on 15 fuel tanks shaped like railway tankers, arranged in three rows of five each, in Starobilsk. The two following strikes show fires continuing after the previous hits.

The last segment of the video shows one drone strike on a large stationary fuel tank at the Luhansk oil depot. Unfortunately, no footage of subsequent Luhansk strikes was shared to confirm the damage.

Both cities are under 100 km behind the frontlines.

The SSO said such asymmetric strikes would continue to "accelerate the disruption of Russian offensive efforts."

Occupation authorities confirm infrastructure damage

Russian-installed Luhansk occupation authorities confirmed the strikes. Russian news Telegram channel Astra cited the so-called “deputy minister of fuel, energy, and coal industry of the LNR,” Andrei Eliseev, who claimed that administrative buildings, several fuel trucks, and fuel tanks were damaged.

Eliseev stated personnel were evacuated and that there were no casualties.

A midday explosion in the center of Russian-occupied Luhansk killed Manolis Pilavov, the city's former Russian-installed mayor, Russian state news agency TASS reported on July 3.

Pilavov headed the occupation administration of Luhansk city from December 2014 until stepping down in November 2023. He had been wanted in Ukraine since 2015 on charges including attempting to violently overthrow the constitutional order and violating Ukraine's territorial integrity.

The blast occurred around noon local time, according to TASS. Three people were reportedly injured, one of them in serious condition.

Ukraine has not commented on Pilavov's reported death. Explosions targeting collaborators and occupation officials have become more frequent in recent months.

Pilavov, born in 1964, held several posts in the local Luhansk administration before Russia occupied parts of Ukraine's eastern Luhansk Oblast in 2014.  

He served as a city council member representing the now-banned pro-Russian Party of Regions and later actively supported the local Russian occupation administration.

Ukrainian authorities say Pilavov participated in separatist propaganda events and encouraged support for Moscow's proxy occupation structures shortly after Russian-backed militants took control of parts of Luhansk Oblast in 2014.

Luhansk remains under Russian occupation, with its city center and government institutions controlled by Kremlin-installed proxies.

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Major General Mikhail Gudkov also led a brigade involved in combat operations against Ukraine. His death reportedly occurred during a Ukrainian attack on a Russian command post.

The Kyiv IndependentAnna Fratsyvir