Ukraine rebels blame Kyiv for fatal blast in Lugansk

MOSCOW – Officials in the rebel-controlled Ukrainian city of Lugansk say two bombings in the centre of the city have killed one person and wounded five.

A spokesman for the regional militia, Andrei Marochko, said the first blast Friday was at a food store and the second went off nearby when police were investigating.

Marochko called the blasts terrorist bombings and he blamed them on unspecified “Ukrainian hawks,” according to the rebel Lugansk Information Center. He said the apparent intent was to undermine the possibility of Friday’s meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin making progress toward resolving the Ukraine conflict.

More than 9,900 people have been killed in fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatist rebels in east Ukraine since the spring of 2014.