'No coincidence' — Explosion in Mykolaiv injures 7 police officers, day after fatal terrorist attack in Lviv
Explosions injured seven police officers in the city of Mykolaiv on Feb. 23, Ivan Vyhivskyi, the chief of Ukraine's National Police, said.
According to Vyhivskyi, seven employees of the Patrol Police Department had arrived at a defunct gas station in Mykolaiv for the shift change. Vyhivskyi said explosions occurred at 6:10 p.m. local time at the gas station. Among the seven injured, two are in critical condition.
"The day before yesterday, a terrorist attack against police officers took place in Lviv. This is no coincidence. The enemy is deliberately trying to kill Ukrainian police officers who stand guard every day to protect the people and the state," Vyhivsky said.
"We view these events as a deliberate attack on the rule of law and an attempt to destabilize the situation within the country," he added.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has opened a terrorism investigation following the explosion, the SBU told Suspilne broadcaster.
Ivan Klymenko, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, reported that explosives experts began working at the site.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that all circumstances are being investigated.
The previous day, on Feb. 22, explosions killed one police officer and injured 25 other victims in western Ukraine's Lviv. Zelensky said in a video address that the explosions were part of a terrorist attack planned by Russia,
"It was indeed a terrorist attack, cynical and cruel," he said after being briefed by law enforcement and the Interior Affairs Ministry.
Two blasts rocked Lviv's historic Old Town in the early hours of Feb. 22, shattering windows in the area.
The explosions took place after officers arrived at the scene responding to a reported store intrusion, Ukraine's National Police said in a statement. A second explosion took place after another police crew arrived at the scene, Lviv Oblast's Prosecutor's Office added.
Explosions were heard by a Kyiv Independent journalist on the ground at approximately 12:25 a.m. local time.
One officer was killed and 25 people were injured in the blasts. Ukraine's national police identified the officer killed as 23-year-old Viktoria Shpylka.
