Police officers injured in Russian-backed terrorist attack near Kyiv, authorities say
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Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Two law enforcement officers were injured in a Russian-orchestrated terrorist attack in the streets of Bucha early on March 23, Ukrainian authorities reported.
The suspect, a 21-year-old local resident recruited by Russian intelligence, was detained "within a few hours" after remotely detonating two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Kyiv Oblast town, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said.
Law enforcement authorities received a report about the initial explosion at 5:35 a.m. local time. The blast occurred near a residential building, shattering windows.
Police officers, first responders, and explosives experts responded to the scene when a second explosion went off, the regional police said.
Two law enforcement officers were hospitalized with moderate injuries, the Kyiv Regional Military Administration reported, noting that their lives are not in danger.
The "double-tap" tactic — a follow-up strike targeting first responders and police at the scene — has been repeatedly used by Russian forces in aerial attacks.
A preliminary SBU investigation suggests the suspect was recruited online by Russian intelligence services and later received instructions on how to build the two IEDs, to be activated by a mobile phone.
The suspect planted one explosive device under a bench near an entrance to the building, and the other near a garbage container, the SBU said.
Police said the suspect was contacted through a computer game and later blackmailed by an unknown individual, who claimed to be monitoring the suspect's mother with a drone and threatened her life.
Russian intelligence services have been linked to numerous assassinations, bombings, and arson attacks across Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion.
One police officer was killed, and more than 20 people were injured in a suspected Russian-backed terrorist attack in Lviv in western Ukraine on Feb. 22. Only a day later, seven police officers were injured in a blast in Mykolaiv, and another explosion occurred at the Dnipro police building.
