4 wounded in blast at Communist meeting in eastern Ukraine

MOSCOW – Four people were wounded Saturday in an explosion at a meeting of the local Communist Party in the largest city in Ukraine’s separatist east.

The blast occurred in Donetsk, capital of the Donetsk region, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014. The separatist government said in a statement that preliminary information indicated it was caused by a bomb. It did not say how seriously any of the four victims were wounded.

The explosion came a month after Donetsk separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko and a bodyguard were killed in a blast in a cafe in Donetsk.

Russia’s state news agency RIA-Novosti said one of the wounded was local Communist leader Igor Khakimzyanov, who intends to run in November elections to choose a successor to Zakharchenko.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in fighting between Ukrainian forces and rebels in Donetsk and the neighbouring Luhansk region.