An explosion rocked the Wagner mercenary group's headquarters in the eastern Luhansk region of Ukraine on Saturday, according to a regional official.
“They had a 'pop' (explosion), where the headquarters of Wagner were. And photos have already appeared online, and they don't even hide that there are huge losses there," Serhiy Hayday, head of the region's military administration, said in an interview with Ukrainian media Sunday.
Hayday said the headquarters was established at a building in the Russian-occupied city of Kadiivka. The city is located in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
Reports out of Russia: The Russian state news agency TASS reported that an explosion occurred on Saturday in a "private hotel" building in Kadiivka, but did not specify Wagner's presence there.
CNN has not independently verified whether Wagner operated at the hotel.
“The hotel building was destroyed in the city of Stakhanov in the LPR due to the strike by the Armed Forces of Ukraine using HIMAR (rocket launchers), the blow shook the central part of the city,” TASS reported Saturday.
"The strike was at the private hotel, that is in the area of the central market. The hotel wasn’t operating at the moment,” TASS' report continued. “Rescuers are already working on the scene, they are clearing the rubble.”
What is the Wagner Group?
The Wagner Group is a mercenary firm that has been heavily involved in the fighting in Ukraine. The group is often described as President Vladimir Putin’s off-the-books troops. It has expanded its footprint globally since its creation in 2014. The group has been accused of war crimes in Africa, Syria and Ukraine.
The group was founded by a Russian oligarch, Yevgeny Prigozhin, which he admitted earlier this year. Prigozhin is so close to the Kremlin that he is known as Putin’s “chef.”
CNN's Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.