Several people detained during a brawl near the building of the Russian Consulate General in Odesa on June 16 plotted a terrorist attack, the regional police department says.
Ivan Katerynchuk, the chief of the Odesa regional police department, said at a news conference on June 20 that these people had planned to set off an improvised remote-controlled explosive device in the crowd.
“Those detained near the Russian Consulate General in Odesa are giving testimony. Preliminary findings indicate that they wanted to commit a bomb attack in the crowd. The organizers of the potential terrorist attack have not yet been identified,” Katerynchuk said, adding that he could not rule out more such attempts in the city.
“There is the danger that such a situation may be replayed,” Katerynchuk said. “Therefore, I am urging the people not to take part in mass events in any case. The police, on their part, are doing all they can to keep the situation under control,” he said.
It was reported earlier that one person had been injured in a brawl while about 100 EuroMaidan activists were picketing the Russian Consulate General building in Odesa on June 16. Four people involved in the brawl were detained, and explosives were found on two of them.
