A Kharkov native set off an explosive device during a border document inspection, the local authorities have said
A man trying to flee Ukraine blew himself up and killed three others while his documents were being inspected on the border with Belarus, the local authorities have reported.
The incident at a railway station in the town of Ovruch in Zhytomyr Region, Ukraine left ten other people injured, regional police said in a statement.
During the check, “one of the men on the platform pulled out an explosive device, after which the blast occurred,” they said. Three women, including a border guard, were reportedly killed in the blast.
The Ukrainian State Border Guard Service said the suspect succumbed to his wounds in the ambulance after receiving first aid.
The man, a 23-year-old Kharkov resident, “had recently been detained for attempting to violate the state border on the western section of the state border,” it added.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky imposed martial law soon after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, prohibiting most men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. He later eased the restrictions to allow men aged 18 to 22 to travel abroad.
Since February 2022, at least 650,000 fighting-age men have fled Ukraine, The Telegraph reported in August.
The Ukrainian authorities have struggled to curb draft evasion throughout the conflict. Amid battlefield setbacks, Kiev’s draft campaign has grown increasingly abusive, according to videos regularly posted on social media.
Viral posts often show Ukrainian conscription officers chasing prospective recruits through the streets and assaulting both the men and bystanders who try to obstruct them – which has led to growing public discontent.
