Serviceman on leave detonates grenade in Sheptytskyi, injuring four civilians
A military serviceman on leave detonated a grenade during a conflict with passersby on Taras Shevchenko Avenue in the city of Sheptytskyi, Lviv Oblast, on the evening of September 26, wounding four local residents. Police detained the 36-year-old suspect the same night and opened a criminal case under Part 4 of Article 296 of Ukraine's Criminal Code (hooliganism involving a weapon), which carries a sentence of three to seven years' imprisonment. The injured — three women aged 17, 18 and 56 and a 26-year-old man — were hospitalized with shrapnel wounds, with no threat to their lives reported.
Key points
- Grenade explosion on the evening of September 26 on Taras Shevchenko Avenue in Sheptytskyi, Lviv Oblast.
- Four local residents were injured: women aged 17, 18 and 56 and a 26-year-old man; all suffered shrapnel wounds and were hospitalized, with no threat to their lives.
- Police identified the detonator as a 36-year-old resident of Sheptytskyi district who is an active-duty serviceman on leave.
- The suspect was detained under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
- A criminal case was opened under Part 4 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code (hooliganism involving a weapon), punishable by three to seven years' imprisonment.
- One source reports that the same serviceman detonated a grenade in July when stopped by police after leaving his unit without authorization, injuring himself and two officers — a claim not confirmed by police or other reporting.
Why it matters
Four civilians, including a 17-year-old, were wounded by a grenade in a public street, and the person responsible is an active-duty serviceman rather than a civilian attacker, putting the focus on how a serving soldier came to have and use a grenade while on leave.
What happened
On the evening of September 26, a grenade exploded on Taras Shevchenko Avenue in Sheptytskyi, Lviv Oblast, during a conflict between a man and passersby. Four local residents were hurt: three women aged 17, 18 and 56 and a 26-year-old man. They were taken to hospital with shrapnel wounds and, according to police, are not in life-threatening condition. Police received a report on the 102 hotline the same evening, and an investigative-operational group, bomb technicians and other officers worked at the scene. Investigators identified the person who detonated the grenade as a 36-year-old resident of Sheptytskyi district who is a military serviceman on leave, and detained him under Article 208 of Ukraine's Criminal Procedure Code. A criminal proceeding was opened under Part 4 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code — hooliganism involving the use of a weapon or other item specially adapted or pre-prepared for inflicting bodily harm — which is punishable by three to seven years' imprisonment. A court was to select a preventive measure for the detainee in the near future, with pre-trial investigation ongoing.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All seven sources covering the incident are Ukrainian, and their accounts converge on the basic police-supplied facts: location, timing, victim profile, detention under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and proceedings under Part 4 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code. One outlet, citing an unnamed source, goes further and reports that the same serviceman detonated a grenade in July when police stopped him after he had left his unit without authorization, injuring himself and two officers — broadening the framing from a single violent outburst to a possible pattern of conduct by the same individual.
Where reporting differs
One unnamed source claims the same serviceman had previously detonated a grenade in July when stopped by police while absent from his unit without authorization, injuring himself and two officers. Police and other reporting do not mention this prior incident, and the claim carries lower confidence in the underlying fact record.
Background
Article 208 of Ukraine's Criminal Procedure Code permits the detention of a suspect without a court warrant in cases specified by law, and the September 26 detention was carried out under that provision. One source also reports a prior July incident in which the same serviceman is alleged to have detonated a grenade when stopped by police, though this is not confirmed elsewhere.