Senior Ukrainian military officer killed in Kiev car blast: ministry

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Updated at 9: 27 p.m. BJT

A senior Ukrainian military officer was killed in a car bomb explosion in Ukraine’s capital Kiev on Tuesday morning.

The driver was Colonel Maksim Shapoval, a senior officer in Ukraine’s military intelligence, the country's defense ministry said. He was severely injured in the blast in Solomyansky district and died at the scene.

The initial investigation showed the cause of the blast was explosive devices set on the vehicle's bottom.

Evidence obtained by Ukraine's authorities showed three explosions occurred in this incident, with two more blasts taking place in succession after the one recorded by video. The car's fuel tank exploded first, igniting two other equipped explosive devices. The type of explosive will be defined after a further identification.

Investigators work at the scene of the car bomb explosion. /VCG Photo

The case was being investigated as a "terrorist attack," Ukrainian prosecutors said.

One elderly person was injured in the attack and sent to the hospital according to local police, but that person's life was not in danger.

The scene of the car blast /CCTV Photo

Russian former MP Denis Voronenkov was shot dead in central Kiev in March. The attacker was injured in the battle with Voronenkov's bodyguard and later died in the hospital. Colonel Maksim Shapoval was once in charge of protecting Voronenkov. No evidence has shown the link between these two cases.

There might be a connection between Shapoval's death and Ukraine's corruption, said Russia's RIA Novosti citing a senior leader of a folk armed organization in eastern Ukraine.

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