Pushilin says one blast victim is his aide, another is security guard (VIDEO)

Published June 13, 2014 at 12:04 pm

Ukrainian firemen search through an exploded car in front of the regional administrative headquarters taken over by armed pro-Russian militants of the self proclaimed \"Donetsk People's Republic\" in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, on June 12, 2014. A car belonging to Donetsk rebel leader Denis Pushilin was blown up in the restive eastern Ukrainian city, killing two, including a Pushilin aide and bodyguard, the separatist leader told Interfax. Pushilin was not in the car at the time of the explosion. AFP PHOTO / DANIEL MIHAILESCU

Photo by AFP

DONETSK - Self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic head Denys Pushilin has disclosed details of the attempt made on his life on Thursday night.

“The car explosion killed two persons, one of them was my aide and the other was a security guard. The driver and people who were passing by got injured. I know that a third person has died, too. We have yet to identify him. My aide died from lethal injuries this morning on the operating table,” Pushilin told Interfax.

He said he had some suspicions as to who might have made the attempt on his life. “Our opponents are well known. Most probably, that was done by the Ukrainian side,” Pushilin said.

This video, published to the YouTube account of the Donetsk People’s Republic on June 12, purports to show Pushilin’s car burning after it exploded.

Pushilin’s car was blown up near the Donetsk regional administration building on Thursday. He was not in the car at the explosion moment. Three people died in the incident as of Friday morning.

This is the second incident of the sort in June. A car of Pushilin’s aide Maksym Petrukhin, was put under gunfire in Donetsk on June 7. Petrukhin died. Pushilin said the murder was political and he saw it as an attempt on his own life.