In brief
In Bucha, Ukraine, two police officers were injured in a series of explosions that authorities have classified as a 'terrorist attack.' The explosions occurred on a residential street, where a second blast injured two officers responding to the first. A 21-year-old suspect has been arrested and claims he was threatened into carrying out the act for financial gain. The Ukrainian security service has since labeled him a 'Russian agent,' although police have yet to confirm ties to Russia.
Two police officers have been injured in an explosion that authorities say was a 'terrorist act' in the town of Bucha near the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
An explosion occurred on a residential street in the early hours of Monday. When police arrived at the site, a second blast took place, injuring two officers.
Police arrested a 21-year-old local resident who they say was recruited online to carry out the two explosions. They did not share what platform the suspect had been recruited on, but a security source told the BBC it had been done through the online game World of Tanks.
He says he just wanted to make some money and was promised 25,000 hryvnyas [£450; $570] for each blast, the Kyiv Region Criminal Investigations Directorate head, Andriy Kravchuk, told the media at the scene.
The Ukrainian security service SBU issued a statement calling the suspect 'a Russian agent'. However, police - who are working to establish who recruited the suspect - are not confirming any links to Russia.
They released footage of the suspect being questioned, in which he claims he was blackmailed into planting the explosives. He stated that those he communicated with over the internet threatened his mother, saying they could 'see her from a drone'.
Either you do what we tell you or something happens to your mum, they allegedly told him.
The suspect has been charged with terrorism. Kravchuk mentioned that the two police officers who were injured in the explosions received injuries to their limbs, which are not believed to be life-threatening.
Local resident Viktoria Ivasyshyna, 21, reported hearing 'a very loud explosion' and immediately realized it was not a civilian or industrial accident. Witnesses described the palpable shockwave and the rapid arrival of all emergency services.
This follows a string of similar incidents across Ukraine this year, where previous explosions targeted law enforcement and resulted in injuries and fatalities.
