# Ukrainian collaborator involved in Russia’s sham ‘referendums’ killed in drone strike, Russian media claims

https://mins.news/en/item/62544

- The Kyiv Independent, 2026-09-17 11:40 UTC
- World
- Original: https://kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-collaborator-involved-in-russias-sham-referendums-killed-in-ukrainian-drone-strike-russian-media-claims/

> Russian state-controlled outlet TASS claimed that Elena Astanina, who headed a Russian-installed electoral commission in occupied Zaporizhzhia Oblast and helped organize Moscow’s sham referendums, was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on Sept. 15. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the report, and Ukraine had not commented.

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