By Andrew Warshaw
October 22 – A series of explosions that took place in the eastern Ukrainian city Dnipropetrovsk, in April was part of a campaign to disrupt the 2012 UEFA European Championship two months later, according to Ukraine’s Security Service.
Four explosions in a one-hour span rocked the city on April 27, injuring 31 people, including 10 teenagers, and causing 26 of the victims to be hospitalised.
All the explosive devices were planted in concrete rubbish containers and sent panic through the country, raising concerns about the security of the thousands of fans who were due to attend the Euro 2012 finals hosted jointly by Ukraine.
“Members of the terrorist group said at once what their goals were,” the head of the group investigation the, Vitaliy Mayakov, was quoted as saying.
“First of all, they 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.”
Ukraine has no history of modern terrorism and it is still unclear who exactly was behind the blasts.
But Dnipropetrovsk is the birthplace of Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian Prime Minister who is in prison after being convicted of abuse of power and who has received widespread support from western Governments.
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