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  • ✇Euromaidan Press
  • Explosion rocks central Luhansk as top collaborator Manolis Pilavov killed (updated)
    A powerful explosion killed Manolis Pilavov, the long-serving head of the so-called “Luhansk City Administration” under Russian occupation. It remains unclear whether the deadly incident was a Ukrainian SBU special operation or the result of internal criminal infighting among Russian-controlled structures that dominate the occupied city. Ukrainian spy agencies HUR and SBU have been actively targeting collaborators and quisling officials in Russian-occupied areas, and occasionally report the deat
     
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✇Euromaidan Press

Explosion rocks central Luhansk as top collaborator Manolis Pilavov killed (updated)

Par :Yuri Zoria
3 juillet 2025 à 10:31

explosion rocks central luhansk top collaborator manolis pilavov killed russian-appointed city mayor 2023 earlier city's occupation authorities powerful blast targeted high-profile quisling official walked past street long-serving head so-called “luhansk

A powerful explosion killed Manolis Pilavov, the long-serving head of the so-called “Luhansk City Administration” under Russian occupation. It remains unclear whether the deadly incident was a Ukrainian SBU special operation or the result of internal criminal infighting among Russian-controlled structures that dominate the occupied city.

Ukrainian spy agencies HUR and SBU have been actively targeting collaborators and quisling officials in Russian-occupied areas, and occasionally report the deaths of Russian military officers on the Russian soil. The agencies never explicitly confirm their involvement in assassination operations and either just describe the events in their reports or leak the information unofficially to the media.

Explosion strikes on central Luhansk street

The blast occurred in the heart of Russian-occupied Luhansk, reportedly on Tarasa Shevchenka Street. Russian state agency TASS confirmed the explosion and the death of Manolis Pilavov. According to early reports cited by Militarnyi, an explosive device had been planted inside a trash bin and detonated precisely as Pilavov walked past.

Footage from the explosion site shows a house on Tarasa Shevchenka about 300 meters from the museum:

Blast in occupied Luhansk reportedly kills 2

So far, it is unclear if the victims are linked to the occupation authorities and/or the incident to SBU operations.
📷TG/Exilenova+ pic.twitter.com/rOCePngLdt

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) July 3, 2025

The incident allegedly left one dead and three wounded, with one person in serious condition, according to the Russian-controlled occupation administration as of 13:00. RIA Novosti, another Russian propaganda outlet, reported that the explosion took place near the Luhansk Regional Museum, where an exhibition dedicated to the Russian military operation Pipe – Russian troops who crawled through the disused Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod pipeline in Kursk Oblast to attack Ukrainian units from the rear.

A long-serving collaborator’s rise and fall

Manolis Pilavov was born in Luhansk and studied at the Luhansk Agricultural Institute. Before 2014, he worked in the city’s housing and communal services sector, served as deputy mayor, headed the municipal utility Luhanskvoda, and was elected to the city council as a member of now fugitive president Yanukovych’s Party of Regions. From September to November 2009, he also served as president of the Zorya football club.

After the Russian occupation of Luhansk began in 2014, Pilavov seized control of the city apparatus, becoming the de facto leader of the so-called “Luhansk City Administration.” He was formally appointed by then “LNR” head Ihor Plotnytskyi and held the post until November 2023. Over the years, Pilavov received several awards and honors from both the Russian Federation and the so-called “LNR.”

Wanted by Ukraine for terrorism

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) had listed Pilavov as wanted on charges including the violent overthrow of constitutional order, violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and creating a terrorist organization.

Militarnyi noted that the last comparable high-profile killing of an occupation figure in Luhansk took place in October of the previous year. At that time, a car explosion in the city center killed Major Dmytro Volodymyrovych Pervukha, chief of staff for military and security service of Russian military unit 53847.

UPDATE

Sources within the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told Suspilne that the SBU was behind the operation to eliminate Manolis Pilavov.

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