Telegram, Russia's role, killed officer: Details of terrorist attack in Ukraine's Lviv
Terrorist attack rocks Ukraine's Lviv overnight (photo: t.me/andriysadovyi)
Two explosions rocked the central part of Ukraine's Lviv city on the night of February 22, leaving 25 people injured and one police officer dead. The attacker was identified as a 33-year-old woman from the Rivne region who was recruited by Russian special services via Telegram.
Key points:
- Trap for the police: the double explosion in Lviv followed a fake burglary call. A 23-year-old patrol officer was killed, and 25 people were injured.
- Rapid arrest: the 33-year-old bomber from Ukraine's Rivne region, who planted the explosives in a trash bin, was detained just 10 hours later near the Polish border in Staryi Sambir town.
- Russian services' trail: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Russia was behind the attack, with the perpetrators recruited through the Telegram messenger.
- Threat of new attacks: Intelligence warns Russia may be preparing additional acts of sabotage.
What happened
During the night, the police in Ukraine's Lviv city received a call from the Kharkiv region reporting that someone had allegedly broken into a store on Danylyshyna Street. When the first police patrol arrived at the scene, an explosion occurred. A second blast followed after another police unit arrived.
The explosions injured 25 people. A 23-year-old patrol officer, Viktoriia Shpylka, was killed at the scene. As of the evening, 12 victims remain hospitalized, two of them in critical condition.
Sequence of events in terrorist attack
Surveillance cameras recorded the woman planting two explosive devices in a trash bin near the store earlier in the evening. She then fled by taxi, and the explosives were likely detonated remotely.
"Just 10 hours after the bombing, police together with the Security Service of Ukraine detained the suspected perpetrator," Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.
All individuals involved in the terrorist attack were recruited through the Telegram messenger, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, noting that Russia was behind the attack, and law enforcement will soon present all the details to the public.
Suspected bomber's profile
The suspected attacker is a 33-year-old woman from the Rivne region. Investigators believe that, acting on instructions from a Russian special services "handler," she assembled and planted explosive devices at pre-selected locations.
Suspect in Ukraine's Lviv terrorist attack (photo: RBC-Ukraine sources)
The suspect was tracked down and detained in a controlled border area of Staryi Sambir city. Law enforcement has also identified the individual who called police from the Kharkiv region, though that information has not yet been disclosed.
The woman has been formally charged with committing a terrorist attack that resulted in a death, as well as illegal handling of weapons. She faces a potential life sentence.
"Investigative actions with the detainee are ongoing. Searches have been conducted at her residences and places of stay. Evidence of illegal activity has been seized," the Prosecutor General's Office said.
New terrorist strikes by Russia possible
According to Ukraine's president, intelligence has information suggesting that Russians may be preparing new attacks against Ukrainians.
"I have instructed today to work out such measures and responses that will make similar crimes impossible. Our law enforcement agencies already have experience in countering this. Dozens of similar situations have been prevented. Ukrainian law enforcement constantly counters such recruitment," he stressed.
At the same time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy added that preventing such terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage in the rear requires greater involvement from the community, local leaders, and government institutions.
