KIEV, August 25. /TASS/. An explosive device has been found and defused near the house of Alexander Zakharchenko, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

"An IED rigged with shrapnel was found close to my house. That’s why we had to tighten security," the Donetsk News Agency quotes him as saying.

A powerful explosion occurred in the center of Donetsk earlier on Thursday. According to preliminary reports, one person was killed. DPR law enforcement officers have cordoned off the area.