**Ukrainian village councilor sets off hand grenades at meeting, wounding 26 people**
In a shocking and terrifying incident, a Ukrainian village councilor set off hand grenades at a meeting, leaving 26 people wounded. The attack, which took place at the headquarters of the village council of Keretsky in western Ukraine’s mountainous Zakarpattia region, was captured on video and has sent shockwaves throughout the country.
The video, posted by the national police on Facebook, shows a man dressed in black entering a council meeting during a heated discussion. The man then pulled three hand grenades from his pockets, released the safety pins, and dropped them on the floor, triggering explosions as those in the meeting screamed in terror.
The police statement confirmed that 26 people were wounded, six of whom are in a critical condition. Medics were seen trying to resuscitate the man who threw the grenades. The incident has prompted an investigation by the Ukrainian secret service (SBU) into terrorism, as well as a probe by the police into the illegal handling of weapons.
The video released by the police was from a live video stream of the meeting provided by the town council on social media. It showed the man walking in more than 1.5 hours into the debate and standing momentarily by the door before taking the grenades from his pockets. The chaos inside the small room was evident, with the room going dark and filling with smoke, and injured people on the floor.
While authorities did not name the man responsible for the attack, Ukrainian Pravda reported that he was identified as Serhiy Batryn, a parliamentarian and member of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party. A woman who was watching the live broadcast of the council session reported the explosion to authorities.
This shocking and tragic incident has left the citizens of Ukraine in disbelief and has raised concerns about security and safety in public meetings. The investigation into the attack is ongoing, and the repercussions of this violent act are likely to be felt for a long time to come.