Two of Vladimir Putin 's secret service agents have been seriously wounded by a car bomb in Russian -occupied Melitopol.
A Renault Duster car was ripped apart by the explosion close to the city’s Gorky Park.
Two people in the car were reported as being FSB operatives, both seriously wounded by the bomb.
“There were reportedly two security service officers [in the car],” reported WarGonzo telegram channel.
“One is gravely wounded, he is at hospital. The other lost his limbs.”
Videos show the carnage at the scene.
Russia appears to be hit by an upsurge of sabotage attacks in occupied areas.
Vladimir Rogov, chairman of movement 'We are together with Russia', and a pro-Moscow official in occupied Zaporizhzhia region, said: "According to preliminary information, at 12.13pm in the city centre by the entrance to Gorky Park, a Renault Duster car was blown up.”
It comes as Russian official Andriy Shtepa, 56, was killed in a car explosion in occupied Kherson region a day earlier.
Kyiv accused the Ukrainian - nicknamed Bluetooth - of “helping Russian soldiers to abuse local residents”.
Online publication Most stated: “It looked like in the movies about the atrocities of the Nazis during the Second World War.
“The Russian occupiers kicked in the door, cursed, severely beat our men, everything in the houses was turned upside down.
“A lot of people were affected - they visited many houses. Many things vanished after they ‘visited’.
“The occupiers checked our phones and copied their content.
“The person who ‘managed’ this whole process was the newly appointed ‘head of the community’ Andrii Shtepa.
“He is known as the person who had conflicts with many residents.
“It was him who showed the occupiers who lived where, and was saying he would ‘revenge everyone’, witnesses told us on condition of anonymity.”
After his death it was stated that “a collaborator and traitor to Ukraine, Andriy Shtepa, was liquidated in Nova Kakhovka”.
Shtepa was a convicted criminal before being appointed as a local occupation official by the Russians.
Andriy Shtepa was pronounced dead soon after the attack but the status of his colleague was unclear for several hours.
A later update confirmed that the other person present in the car had also died as a result of their injuries.
Russian news outlets blamed the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service, but Ukraine has not claimed the attack.
