A building of a recruitment office in the Ukrainian region of Rowno has been the site of an explosion. The recruitment office reported the incident on its Facebook page. Emergency services and law enforcement officials are on the scene and the area has been cordoned off.
According to the Ukrainian National Police, the explosion occurred at 16:15 local time (15:15 MEZ). The authorities also reported the casualties: “One fatality has been confirmed and six others were injured.”
Suspilne, a public broadcasting network, reported that the pedestrian zone near the recruitment office is blocked, but the traffic is not restricted. TSN, a news website, reported that the windows of the building were shattered or completely destroyed, a claim supported by photos from the scene.
On the same day, the press service of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command reported that in the Poltawa region, an unknown assailant had shot a recruitment office employee and freed a mobilized man before his deployment to the front. The authorities are now searching for the escaped individuals.
This is not the first time that recruitment offices in Ukraine have been targeted by explosions. In mid-December 2024, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) reported the arrest of a 37-year-old man, previously convicted, who had brought an improvised explosive device to the recruitment office in the city center of Dnjepropetrowsk. The blast killed one person and injured four, including two police officers, according to UNIAN.
In mid-July last year, an unknown individual threw a grenade at the façade of the recruitment office in the city of Busk, in the Lwow region and fled the scene. The incident caused no injuries, but damaged the windows and façade of the building.