Law enforcers do not find explosives in grenade shells, planted under doors of Shabunin's mother
The explosives in the grenades shells thrown under the door of Head of the Anti-Corruption Center Vitaliy Shabunin's mother apartment in Rivne were not found, according to the website of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine on Thursday.
"On the evening of December 30, 2020, in the city of Rivne, at the door of the apartment where the mother of a public figure in the fight against corruption lives, two objects similar to grenades and a plastic box rewound with tape were found. Residents were evacuated, an explosives group was working on the spot. According to preliminary data, no explosives were found in the bodies of the grenades," the PGO said in a statement.
Criminal proceedings have started on the facts of threats of murder and hooliganism committed with the use of weapons (Part 1 of Article 129, Part 4 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), an investigation is underway, an explosive-technical and molecular-genetic examination will be scheduled, the PGO said.
Earlier, the National Police of Ukraine said that on Wednesday evening, law enforcement officers received a message that an improvised explosive device was found on the first floor of a five-story residential building under the door of the apartment. Upon arriving at the scene, the police found an improvised explosive device that consisted of two grenades and a black box. The law enfocers also established that Shabunin's mother lives in the apartment.
The head of the Anti-Corruption Center believes that his mother had an explosive device under the door. "If the device is really explosive (as the National Police says), then they were going to kill my mother. Obviously, this is such a 'hello' to me, and not to a 69-year-old woman who already sees almost nothing," Shabunin wrote on his Facebook page.
At the same time, the activist said the law enforcement system cannot provide "elementary security for its citizens" and expressed confidence that the law enforcement, judicial systems and security policy "are degrading or sold at an alarming rate."