Ukrainian separatist chief accuses another of plotting coup

Igor Plotnitsky had dismissed former interior minister Igor Kornet earlier this week.

Moscow: A separatist leader in Ukraine's east has accused a former official of trying to unseat him.

Breaking an almost a week of silence, Igor Plotnitsky, leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, said on the rebel television station today that former interior minister Igor Kornet "tried to seize power by force."

Plotnitsky vowed to "resolve the conflict with the help of the law."

Plotnitsky dismissed Kornet earlier this week. In response, dozens of armed people loyal to Kornet have deployed to the main administrative buildings in the regional capital, Luhansk.

More than 10,000 people have been killed and a million displaced in a long-simmering conflict between separatists in Luhansk and in parts of the neighbouring Donetsk region since 2014.