KIEV, March 31 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was killed on Friday in a car explosion in the country's eastern Donetsk region, the authorities said.
Colonel Olexandr Kharaberyush was killed at about 8:30 a.m. local time (0530 GMT) when his car blew up in Mariupol city of the Donetsk region, the SBU said in a statement without giving further details.
The Donetsk region lies near the front line of the fighting between government troops and pro-independence insurgents.
According to Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko, Kharaberyush was one of the leaders of the government-led military operation against the rebels.
Kharaberyush has served as the deputy head of the SBU's main counter-intelligence department in the Donetsk region, reports said.
Donetsk police said that members of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic forces could be behind the attack.
