Blast injures police chief, teen in Russia-controlled Lugansk

Seven people including a Russian-installed senior official and a teenager were wounded when an explosion ripped through a beauty salon in the centre of Russian-controlled Lugansk in eastern Ukraine on Monday, officials said.

"As a result of an explosion in the centre of Lugansk, seven people were injured," Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic (LNR), said on social media.

Investigators said the explosion had taken place in a beauty salon in central Lugansk.

Russia's Investigative Committee also released a video of the badly damaged interior of what appeared to be a hair salon, with windows blown out.

Pasechnik said four men -- including a 17-year-old and the head of the local interior ministry, Igor Kornet, were in a "serious condition".

"Medics are fighting for the lives of the wounded," Pasechnik said.

Citing preliminary information, he said an explosive device went off during rush hour.

The Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said in a statement that an investigation into attempted murder had been launched.

The statement said that investigators had "sufficient evidence" to believe that an explosive device was detonated in order to target a law enforcement officer.

The eastern region of Lugansk is one of four Ukrainian regions Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed last year.