A targeted car bombing carried out in a central residential area of Odesa late Saturday evening, May 23, has prompted a high-priority counter-terrorism investigation by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
The improvised explosive device detonated shortly before midnight on Universytetska Street, located within the city’s prominent Primorskyi district. The force of the targeted blast severely mangled the vehicle – a Volkswagen sedan – and triggered an immediate cabin fire, shattering windows in nearby residential buildings and panicking neighborhood residents.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
Two passengers wounded in target blast in Odesa
Emergency medical teams and State Emergency Service (DSNS) firefighters arrived at the scene to find the vehicle engulfed in thick smoke. Two individuals who were inside the car at the exact moment of the detonation managed to escape the burning wreckage before first responders arrived.
Both victims sustained various shrapnel lacerations and concussions from the primary shockwave. Paramedics stabilized the wounded passengers at the scene before rushing them to a local hospital, where they are currently receiving emergency medical treatment.
Specialized police criminologists, counter-intelligence officers, and pyrotechnic squads immediately cordoned off the street to conduct a comprehensive forensic investigation. Investigators are currently sifting through the charred debris to recover components of the explosive device, wire fragments, and chemical residues to determine how the bomb was constructed and detonated.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, June 29, 2026
SBU launches anti-terror track
Following the initial assessment of the bombing scene, the SBU Regional Office for the Odesa Oblast announced that the incident would be treated as a direct attack on public safety.
“The SBU qualifies the explosion of the car in the Primorskyi district of Odesa as a terrorist act and has already opened the corresponding criminal proceedings,” the intelligence service confirmed in an official statement.
The pre-trial investigation is formally registered under Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (terrorist act). SBU counter-intelligence and the National Police are running joint operations to review localized security camera footage, map out the vehicle’s recent movements, and identify the perpetrators who planted the device.
The car bombing occurred during a tense weekend for the southern port city. Just hours prior to the explosion, Russian tactical aircraft launched cruise missiles into Odesa’s civilian transport infrastructure, wounding nine people, including three children.
While law enforcement agencies have not yet stated whether the car bombing was directed by hostile foreign intelligence networks or tied to domestic criminal elements, the SBU emphasized that all operational resources are deployed to uncover the motives behind the attack.
You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter
