​Ukrainian military intelligence colonel assassinated by car bomb

A car bomb explosion took the life of a Ukrainian military intelligence colonel early this morning in the center of the capital Kiev.

Kiev police investigate at the scene of the burnt-out car of Colonel Maxim Shapoval. Photo: Reuters

According to Reuters news agency, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that it was investigating the incident as a terrorist attack.

Kiev police said the incident happened at 5:15 a.m. this morning (June 27) while the car was moving and the explosion injured another passerby.

The driver who died was identified by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry as military intelligence colonel Maxim Shapoval, 39.

According to Reuters news agency, since the civil war broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, the number of incidents related to explosions outside the Donbass war zone has increased, but explosions caused by car bombs like this are very rare.

The most recent notable incident occurred in July 2016 when investigative journalist Pavel Sheremet was killed when his car was bombed and exploded.

On June 8, an explosion also occurred in the area of ​​the US Embassy in the capital Kiev and this explosion is considered an act of terrorism.

According to Russian news agency TASS, the explosion occurred in the area of ​​the US diplomatic mission in the center of the capital Kiev, Ukraine at 0:05 local time (about 4:05 Vietnam time).

Initial investigations indicate that an unknown person threw an unidentified explosive device into the US Embassy area. Fortunately, no one was injured in the explosion.

Western reporting has largely pointed to the possibility of a bomb attack by pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.

The most recent tension between the West and Russia over Ukraine is the US's continued economic sanctions against Russia and its decision to increase arms supplies to the Kiev government.

On June 26, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Defense and Security Committee Frants Klintsevich declared that Moscow firmly opposes any activities of supplying weapons to Ukraine, because the line between lethal weapons and defensive weapons is sometimes unclear.

Mr. Klintsevich believes that the term "defensive weapons" today only has a relative meaning... Therefore, Russia firmly opposes providing weapons to Ukraine, a country that has been engulfed in a civil war that has lasted for more than 3 years.

According to Mr. Klintsevich, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko - who recently visited the US - was very "smart" when asking the US to provide defensive weapons, not lethal weapons.

Russia has repeatedly opposed plans to supply weapons to Ukraine, saying the move would escalate tensions in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine.

On June 25, President Poroshenko said Kiev and Washington were not discussing the supply of lethal weapons, but that Ukraine hoped the US would provide Kiev with some defensive weapons. An agreement on this issue would be reached in 2017.

Last week, the Chairman of the US House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Marc Thornberry, said that a bill on the 2018 budget of the US Department of Defense will include provisions on military support for Ukraine, including support for lethal weapons./.

According to Tuoi Tre