On the evening of Sunday, November 30, an incident involving the use of a flammable substance occurred in Dubna: an unknown man threw a bottle with an explosive mixture into the yard of the house where the city's mayor, Vasyl Antonyuk, lives. There was no ignition, so no one was injured, the press service of the Rivne region police reported.
According to law enforcement, the incident occurred at around 00:40 on December 1. An investigative and operational team and a dog handler arrived at the scene to collect evidence. The police have organized increased patrols and are conducting yard-to-yard rounds to identify the perpetrator.
The mayor confirmed that two Molotov cocktails were thrown into his yard. He was at home with his wife at the time of the incident. When asked about the possible reasons for the attack, Antonyuk said that it was related to "land and politics" and added that he had received threats before.
Investigators have opened criminal proceedings under Part 4 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for three to seven years of imprisonment for hooliganism with the use of explosive or flammable substances. Police urge local residents to report any information that may help in the investigation by calling 050-032-72-34 or 102. Anonymity is guaranteed.
69-year-old Vasyl Antonyuk has been the mayor of Dubno since 2010 and was re-elected in 2020 with over 59% of the vote. Earlier in November, the mayor had a conflict with the head of the city's education department, Natalia Ivanytska, over the lack of heating in kindergarten No. 7.
