Russia behind string of bombings on Ukrainian military draft offices

Yahoo

05-02-2025

Russian spies have been blamed for a series of bombings at Ukrainian army recruitment offices as tensions run high over the war-weary nation's divisive mobilisation drive.
An explosion at a draft centre on Wednesday in western Ukraine killed one person and wounded four others. It was the latest of a string of such incidents in recent weeks.
'We clearly understand, together with the Security Service of Ukraine, that this is a specific attack by the special services of the Russian Federation to... destabilise the situation,' said Ivan Vyhivskyi, Ukraine's national police chief.
A man approached the Kamianets-Podilsky district territorial centre, clutching a bag and asking to hand over a package, which then exploded, Mr Vyhivskyi said.
He added that there have been nine such similar attacks orchestrated by Russian intelligence officers already this year.
Kyiv has long been facing the steep challenge of maintaining troop levels in the face of high casualties and against a much larger enemy.
The Ukrainian government has been facing widespread criticism for its efforts to mobilise men using more coercive methods, including reportedly pulling men off the streets and using intimidation and sometimes physical force to recruit them.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian police announced they had detained three men accused of attacking a recruitment centre in the central city of Pavlograd on Russian orders.
The suspects were 'recruited via messenger and promised a monetary reward for committing the crime', police said. 'On the instructions of their Russian handler, the traitors manufactured explosives and detonated them near the object he had designated.'
On Saturday, one person was killed and six were wounded by an explosive device at a draft centre in the north-western city of Rivne. Earlier in the day, a man with a hunting rifle shot dead a Ukrainian army recruitment soldier and escaped with a conscript before both were caught by police.
But as the country struggles to recruit men, Ukraine announced on Wednesday that it is fast-tracking the introduction of robotic vehicles on the front line to spare soldiers.
Mykhailo Fedorov, the digital transformation minister, said uncrewed ground vehicles could relieve pressure on recruitment. 'Our goal is to create a military where innovative technologies help perform the most dangerous tasks, saving the lives of our defenders,' he said.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, made a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday to unveil a further £55 million in financial support from the UK.
From the new financial package, £17 million will go to innovative energy projects, £10 million to help the recovery of businesses and £25 million to support family and community services, the Foreign Office said.
'We will continue to stand alongside you to fight this imperialism that we're seeing from Putin until the very end,' Mr Lammy said, adding: 'It is still our assessment that Putin shows no desire to negotiate at all at this point in time.'
The Kremlin, however, reiterated on Wednesday that it was 'ready for talks' with Ukraine, though it dismissed Volodymyr Zelensky's suggestion of face-to-face negotiations with Vladimir Putin as 'empty words'.
'Zelensky has big problems de jure (legally) in Ukraine. But even despite that we remain ready for talks,' Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said, referring to the Ukrainian president's five-year mandate in office, which expired last year. Under martial law, Ukraine has a ban on holding elections.
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine each said 150 of their captured soldiers had been returned in the latest POW exchange on Wednesday.
'Some of the guys had been in captivity for more than two years,' Mr Zelensky said. 'Today is a good day for all of us.'
Elsewhere, suspected Russian agents disguised as climate activists have been accused of vandalising cars in Germany in order to influence the outcome of the country's upcoming election.
The men, so-called disposable agents, sprayed expanding foam into the exhaust pipes of hundreds of cars and left pro-Green party leaflets nearby, Der Spiegel, the political magazine, reported.
The plot initially appeared a success, with the country's tabloid media picking up the story of 'climate radicals' sabotaging vehicles.
However, a chance vehicle control outside Berlin airport led police to the group in December. One of the suspects is reported to have confessed that they had been paid 100 euros per vandalised vehicle by a Russian agent.
Germany is set to vote for a new parliament on Feb 23 after Olaf Scholz's centrist coalition collapsed in November, with Russia favouring the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Norwegian intelligence services also warned on Wednesday that Russia is 'likely' to launch sabotage attempts against Norway in 2025, potentially targeting energy infrastructure or aid sent to Ukraine.
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