Explosions in Lviv kill police officer, wound up to 24; suspect detained

Multiple explosive devices detonated in central Lviv around midnight, killing a police officer and wounding scores of people after a fake emergency call lured responding crews to the scene, authorities said. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted on X that police had detained a suspect, but gave no further details.

Officials said the sequence began with a call to the emergency number 102 reporting a shop break-in on Danylyshyn Street. When the first patrol arrived a blast struck the scene; a second explosion detonated shortly after as another crew responded, a tactic prosecutors described as intended to maximize casualties among emergency services. The prosecutor’s office, quoted by local news agency UNN, said, "The perpetrators used a repeated explosion tactic aimed at maximizing casualties among emergency services that arrived on a fake call to Danylyshyn Street."

The National Police wrote on Telegram that "it has been preliminarily established that homemade explosive devices detonated." That post gave the most widely circulated casualty figure: 24 people wounded in the incident. Local updates varied, with UNN reporting the hospitalization of 14 injured people and other accounts citing 15 injured. Authorities have not yet reconciled those differences; officials warned that numbers were provisional as hospitals treat the wounded and investigators compile a final toll.

UNN and the prosecutor’s office identified the fatality as a 23-year-old policewoman who was part of the first patrol to arrive. City officials said a patrol service vehicle and a civilian car near the scene were heavily damaged. A local official identified as Mr Tkachenko said the explosions caused a fire on the roof of a residential building; the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, called the attack "This is clearly an act of terrorism."

The prosecutor’s office has formally classified the overnight blasts as a terrorist act and investigators have opened a criminal probe. Forensic teams were reported to be examining debris to determine the make-up of the devices and whether materials link the suspect to other incidents. Authorities have not released the name, age, or alleged affiliation of the person taken into custody, nor have they specified charges.

The Lviv blasts occurred amid a broader night of strikes and explosions across Ukraine, with security reporting indicating attacks on Kyiv, Odesa and central regions the same night. Officials cautioned that a wider pattern does not necessarily imply a direct operational link between those events and the Lviv explosions; investigators are focused on establishing motive and whether the attack was coordinated.

The use of a false emergency call followed by a secondary device marks a worrying escalation in tactics aimed at first responders, analysts said, elevating both the human risk and the complexity of protective measures for patrols and rescue teams. In Lviv, an important transport and commercial hub near the Polish border, the attack has prompted visible increases in police patrols and checkpoints in the city center.

Authorities said they would provide further updates as the investigation proceeds and as hospitals report final casualty figures. Key outstanding questions include the identity and motives of the detained suspect, confirmation of the final death and injury toll, and forensic findings that could clarify whether the devices were locally assembled and where components originated.