2012 Dnipropetrovsk explosions

Ukraine's Emergencies Ministry initially reported that 27 people were injured, but authorities revised the figure to 26 the day after the explosions. Among those injured were 9 teenagers. 22 people remained in hospital as of 28 April, including three who were in a serious condition.[1]

According to security experts interviewed by Interfax, the nature of the injuries received by the victims suggests that the devices did not contain damaging elements, and the resulting injuries were probably caused by the debris of trash bins and other items.[7]

The authorities stated that the attacks were a terrorist act[8] and reported that several suspects have been placed under arrest.[9]

On 27 April the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych assembled a committee to carry out an investigation of the explosions, with members including Viktor Pshonka, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine; Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine, Igor Kalinin; Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, Raisa Bohatyryova; and Serhiy Lyovochkin, Head of the Presidential Administration.[10]

The Dnipropetrovsk regional prosecutor opened a criminal case on counts of terrorism.[11] The criminal case on the grounds of an offense under Part 2 of Art. 258 of the Criminal Code (terrorist act), was transferred to the organization of pre-trial investigation in the investigative unit of the central apparatus of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).[12] In April 2012 SBU investigators sought three men on suspicion of committing a crime, whose sketch were created and published.[13] It is known that they were all men. One of them was about 30 years, another about 40, the third from 35 to 45 years.[14] In May 2012 police officers arrested four residents of Dnipropetrovsk.[15] According to Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka this arrest closed the criminal case and it had solved the crime.[16] All 4 men were also accused of organizing three terrorist attacks in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia in October–November 2011.[15] Lev Prosvirnin and Dmytro Reva were charged with a terrorist attack committed on preliminary collusion by a group of persons.[15] Prosvirnin and Reva pleaded not guilty.[15] According to the SBU the men "did not agree with the social and political regime in Ukraine. They wanted to cause chaos and provoke protests of the public against authorities. They also insist that their goal was to frustrate the hosting of Euro 2012 in Ukraine".[17] The prosecutor's office in Dnipropetrovsk opened in March 2013 criminal proceedings because Reva had complained against falsified testimonies against him.[15] Late February 2013 the European Court of Human Rights received a complaint from lawyers for Reva against long-term groundless detention.[18] Prosvirnin and Reva were released on 11 March 2014 after the court removed their charges.[19][20]

The authorities have stated that the attacks were a terrorist act.[8]

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich declared "We... understand that this is another challenge to us, to the whole country. We will think how to respond accordingly.[27] Speaking in Dnipropetrovsk on 28 April, Yanukovich offered 200.000 euro to citizens able to provide the authorities with useful information on the authors of the attack.[28]

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov declared that the explosions "are profitable to those forces that are interested in destabilizing the situation in the country.".[29]

Mykola Tomenko, deputy parliament speaker and member of the opposition, suggested the blasts were orchestrated by the government in order to quiet Western criticism of Yulia Tymoshenko's imprisonment: "I don't rule out that the authorities and law enforcement bodies may be among the organizers of a scenario, which involves deflecting the attention of the world and Ukraine form Tymoshenko's case on the whole and her beating in particular."[29] Volodymyr Yavorivsky, head of the Culture Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament and member of the opposition, accused the government parties to have staged the attack in order to jeopardise the October 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election and install an authoritarian regime.[30]

According to Vadim Karassev, director of the Ukrainian Institute of Global Strategies, the blasts might have been prepared by the secret services in order to spread panic, fear, and confusion in Dnipropetrovsk and in Ukraine. This strategy of tension might be instrumental in limiting political activism and oppositional mobilisation in Ukraine under the pretext of terrorism.[30]

Kirill Frolov, director of the Ukraine desk of the Institute for the studies of the CIS countries, supported the hypothesis of a political motivation for the attack, but also condemned the cynicism of the opposition in accusing the government for the attack. According to Frolov, the Yanukovich regime did not need such an event, as his political manifesto for the upcoming elections would be based on the good conduct of UEFA Euro 2012.[31]

Matthew Rojansky, on CNN, suggested several possible motivations for the attack, ranging from random acts of violence, or the work of gangs from Ukraine's criminal underworld and endlessly feuding oligarchs, to international terrorism linked to al-Qa'eda, up to the eventual involvement of Russian secret services.[25]