A village council member in western Ukraine has detonated three hand grenades during a meeting Friday, critically injuring himself and at least two dozen others.
A man was seen in a video posted on social media entering a room where the Keretsky village council was meeting to discuss and approve the community’s budget.
Serhii Batryn, a council member from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party, took three grenades from his pockets, removed the pins, and threw the explosives on the floor in front of him.
According to a police statement from the Transcarpathian region, 26 people were injured in the explosion, with six of them in critical condition.
According to police, Batryn, suffered severe injuries and received medical attention from emergency responders.
Authorities later declared that they are investigating the incident as a possible terrorist act.
The police have not confirmed the motive for the attack or any connection to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to Zakarpattia24, there have been previous conflicts involving Batryn, who reportedly disagreed with his colleagues about a salary increase for the village council’s head during wartime.
It comes as Russia’s military has claimed to have foiled a massive Ukraine drone raid on occupied Crimea involving some 26 UAVs.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defence anti-air defence units took out all the Ukrainian drones in a dramatic incident lasting two hours.
These interceptions took place between 8:30 and 10:30 pm (1730-1930 GMT), according to a statement by Russian officials.
Russian forces first captured and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
