Ukraine: suspected suicide bombing in Kiev courthouse, two policemen injured

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: ERCIN ERTURK / ANADOLU AGENCY / ANADOLU AGENCY VIA AFP 22:27 p.m., July 05, 2023

Two police officers were wounded Wednesday after a man apparently blew himself up in a Kiev district court, Ukrainian authorities said. Two explosions appear to have sounded in the Shevchenkivskyi District Court. Authorities did not say the detonations were related to the war with Russia. "An attacker died on the spot. According to preliminary information, he blew himself up," Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said on social media, adding that two police officers were wounded.

Two explosions

The building, in front of which several ambulances are located, was surrounded by a police cordon, an AFP journalist found. Two ambulances have already left the building and about twenty armed police wearing helmets have entered the premises, according to the same source. Earlier in the day, authorities said security forces were responding to a district court after an explosion. An AFP correspondent then heard a second explosion.

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Kiev has been under enhanced security since Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the end of February 2022. A nighttime curfew is in place. "According to preliminary information, an unknown (explosive) device was detonated by a man who was brought to the hearing," the interior minister said. According to the city's military administration, an explosion occurred at 17:20 p.m. (15:20 GMT) as a defendant was escorted by police to a courtroom. The attorney general's office said the man, who had been brought in to be heard by the court, detonated a bomb while trying to "escape his custody" while he was in the toilet. The interior minister urged residents not to approach the scene to allow rescuers to do their job better.