A Ukraine MP was last night among three people injured following an ‘deliberate’ explosion in Kiev which left a bodyguard dead.
Ihor Mosiychuk, a member of the opposition Radical Party, has been hospitalised but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
Meanwhile, his bodyguard was killed, according to party leader Oleh Lyashko and two other people were also injured on Wednesday night.
Interior Ministry adviser Zoryan Shkiryak said investigators were at the scene of the incident, where it appeared a motorcycle had been blown up near the entrance to a TV station.
Police officers examine the crime scene after an explosion in Kiev, Ukraine, on Wednesday night
Paramedics were quickly on the scene to help treat an injured man following the explosion in Kiev
Ihor Mosiychuk (pictured) a member of the opposition Radical Party, has been hospitalised
He said: ‘Altogether four people were wounded in the explosion. Unfortunately, one could not be saved. He died on the way to the hospital from the wounds he received.’
Kiev police spokeswoman Oksana Blyshchyk said that at 7pm authorities had received information about a car explosion in the Solomensky district of the capital.
There was no immediate word from police on possible suspects or a motive for the attack, but Lyashko said he had no doubt the incident was politically motivated.
He wrote on Facebook: ‘The attempt on Mosiychuk’s life was linked to his professional activities and political position.’
Since fighting with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014, the number of incidents involving explosives outside the conflict zone has increased, but vehicle bombings are relatively rare.
In June, a colonel in Ukraine’s military intelligence was killed by a car bomb in central Kiev, while in 2016 a prominent investigative journalist, Pavel Sheremet, was killed by the detonation of an explosive device in his car.
Medical workers carry a wounded person to an ambulance after the explosion in Kiev
Three people were injured, including the deputy of the Radical Party Igor Mosiychuk, and one person was killed
Interior Ministry adviser Zoryan Shkiryak said investigators were at the scene of the incident
Kiev police spokeswoman Oksana Blyshchyk said that at 7pm authorities had received information about a car explosion
Radical Party lawmaker Evhen Deidei posted photos on his Facebook page from the scene of Wednesday’s attack which showed the burnt-out shell of a motorcycle in front of a blast-hit vehicle.
He said: ‘Judging by the damage to the car and the shrapnel holes in the doors, the power of the explosion was pretty strong.
‘There is a lot of blood on the stairs, where Ihor was situated at the time of the explosion.’
The interior ministry’s Shkiryak said political analyst Vitaliy Bala was one of the three wounded in the blast.