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An explosion occurred at 18:10 in Mykolaiv on the premises of a non-operational gas station, but as a result, seven police officers were injured, reported the head of the National Police Vygivskyi.
Vygivskyi said that the police officers had come to change shifts and parked their cars on the premises of the gas station – two of the injured were in a critical condition and doctors were fighting to save their lives.
Recalling the attack against police officers in Lviv, Vygivskyi stated that law enforcement officers view these events as deliberate attacks aimed at destabilising the community.
Head of the Regional State Administration Igor Klimenko told RBC-Ukriane last night that it was too early to establish what had caused the explosion: “It’s too early to say anything yet. Explosive technicians have started working at the scene.
“At the moment, I’m most concerned about the condition of the patrol officers – I’ve instructed them to determine whether anyone needs to be transported to Kyiv for treatment – I’m constantly being updated and keeping the situation under control, [so] we will keep you informed,” Klimenko said.
As footage began to circulate of the gas station being cordoned off by police in the area, the SBU stated in a comment to the Public Broadcasting Service that investigators were classifying the explosion as a terrorist attack and had already opened up a corresponding court proceeding.
According to the Regional Prosecutor’s Office, a homemade device had exploded at the site of the terrorist attack.
Meanwhile, almost 3 hours later at 20:50, an incident occurred where an explosion caused damage to one of the police departments, but there were no injuries according to initial investigations, while explosive experts were working the scene to investigate the cause.
According to the State Police in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the explosive wave damaged the windows of the premises, furniture and computer systems inside too, while also affecting a car that was parked near the building.
Local resident Elena told reporters that her house was located around 100 metres from the centre of the explosion, saying that she had first thought a Russian drone had exploded: I heard such a loud explosion, I immediately opened the chat rooms,” Elena said.
Elena continued: “There’s no alarm, nothing flying – and when the police started writing, I’m a journalist myself, so I gathered myself and came here to get some information – the apartment is intact, everything is in order.”
Police cordoned off the area around the damaged building, while specialists from the SES and law enforcement continued to make sure the site was safe, and there were no damages in the surrounding buildings, noted Suspilne journalists who had attended the scene.
According to the Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the explosion was later recorded as a terrorist attack, noting that the explosion occurred around 20:50, and a pre-trial investigation had been launched.
Now to the 33-year-old Rivne woman suspected of planting 3 IEDs at the request of Russians, told court yesterday that the ‘curator’ contacted her more than a week before she committed the attack, adding that she only found out after her arrest that it might have been someone from Russia, and that she had been promised a reward of $2,000.
Homemade explosive devices, which were planted near a store in Lviv, were activated remotely after the arrival of patrol officers responding to a false report of a robbery, reported the SBU: “The female offender manufactured three homemade explosive devices and planted them near a grocery store,” the statement said.
According to reports, the prosecutors were asking the court to impose preventive measures on the woman which involved detention for 60 days without the right to bail.
