News   /   More

Two blasts hit Ukraine’s Kharkiv, no casualties

Ukrainian police experts examine the wreckage of a mini-bus following a blast in Kharkiv on March 6, 2015. ©AFP

Two bomb explosions have rocked Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border, causing damage to some buildings as well as a railway line, but no casualties.

The blasts occurred during the early hours of Tuesday with the prosecutor’s office announcing that it has ordered the start of an investigation by authorities for a possible “terrorist attack” in Ukraine’s second-largest city.

The spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said the first blast in the center of the city, which broke windows at a university and set off car alarms, did also some damage to a monument holding the country’s national flag.

The second blast took place on a railway line as a freight train was passing, but it also caused no injuries or severe disruption to traffic.

The explosions came just weeks after four people died in a bomb attack targeting a pro-government “Dignity March” on February 23, marking the first anniversary of the ouster of the pro-Kremlin president, Viktor Yanukovych.

Over the past months, however, Kharkiv has been the scene of numerous bombings against the city’s military and strategic sites.

In this regard, security officials claim a Russian woman suspected to be behind the attacks has been taken into custody after explosive devices and military equipment were allegedly found at her home.

The Ukrainian security service described the Russian woman as an official member of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, which is opposed to the government in Kiev.

Kharkiv, with a population of about 1.4 million, is a major industrial and university hub. The region is also home to several important aeronautical and aerospace institutions, in addition to factories manufacturing military tanks.

The city is also the capital of the region bordering the pro-Russia forces’ strongholds of Donetsk and Lugansk.

XLS/HSN/SS

 


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku