18-year-old accused of drawing police into terror blast in Lviv
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the National Police of Ukraine have formally charged an 18-year-old woman from Kharkiv who lured police officers to the site of a terrorist attack in Lviv on the night of February 22.
According to Ukrinform, the SSU reported this.
The investigation found that, acting on instructions from her handler, the woman – while in Kharkiv – called an emergency hotline and read out a pre-prepared script claiming that she had allegedly seen two unknown individuals break into a grocery store in Lviv.
When a police patrol arrived in response to the call, Russian operatives remotely detonated an improvised explosive device planted near the location.
After a second police unit and a National Guard foot patrol arrived at the scene, another explosion occurred.
Investigators established that the author of the anonymous call came to the attention of Russian intelligence operatives in January this year while searching for “easy money” in Telegram channels.
She agreed to pass the false report to law enforcement and planned to receive USD 100 for making the fake call to the 112 emergency number.
The suspect has been charged under Part 2 of Article 383 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (knowingly false reporting of a criminal offense).
As the SSU recalled, law enforcement officers detained the perpetrator of the terrorist attack within 10 hours after the series of explosions.
The investigation is ongoing to identify and bring to justice all individuals involved in the crime.
As previously reported by Ukrinform, two explosions were heard in central Lviv on the night of February 22. It was established that two improvised explosive devices had been planted earlier between 23:00 and 23:30 at 20 Danylyshyna Street.
A 23-year-old police officer, Viktoria Shpylka, was killed, and 24 people were injured.
Law enforcement officers quickly identified a person involved in the attack. The woman was detained in Staryi Sambir.
Ten victims remain hospitalized following the attack, three of them in serious condition.
Photo: National Police of Ukraine