Deadly explosions in western Ukraine investigated as ‘terrorist attack’

By Victoria Butenko and Rhea Mogul, Daria Tarasova-Markina, CNN

Kyiv (CNN) — At least one person was killed and dozens more wounded in explosions that hit the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early Sunday, in what authorities have labeled a “terrorist attack.”

The blasts took place as police responded to an emergency phone call about an intrusion at a store near the city center, according to Lviv’s regional prosecutor’s office.

The first occurred after police arrived at the scene, it said, and was followed by another after the arrival of a second crew.

A 23-year-old policewoman was killed in the attack, while a patrol car and a civilian vehicle were damaged, the prosecutor’s office said. About two dozen people were wounded, according to the Ukrainian National Police.

Lviv’s regional prosecutor’s office said it has launched an investigation into “a terrorist act that caused serious consequences,” but added that the circumstances were unclear.

“This is definitely an act of terror,” Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovy said in a post on Facebook.

Officials have not yet said who is suspected of perpetrating the attack. Homemade explosive devices were detonated, police said, citing their “preliminarily” investigations.

Viktoria Shpylka was named by police as the officer who was killed in the attack. She was 23.

“Her colleagues remember her as sensitive, bright and sincere. She knew how to support, listen and find a kind word even on the hardest of days,” police said. Shpylka had married a patrol officer last year, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv was under a combined missile and drone strikes overnight into Sunday. Explosions were heard in the city following a ballistic missile alert.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.