Ukraine Police: Man Detained Who Threatened To Blow Up Bridge, Fired Shots

An elite Ukrainian police unit detained a 42-year-old man who fired shots from his car and threatened to blow up a bridge where he disrupted rail and vehicle traffic during rush hour in Kyiv on September 28.

Ukrainian media reported that the suspect, Oleksiy Belko, is a native of Foros in Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and a former military serviceman.

A carbine was found but no explosives when Belko was detained on the bridge, Kyiv police chief Andriy Kryshchenko said, adding that about 300 police personnel took part in the operation.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov confirmed the suspect was apprehended at 7:32 p.m. local time.

Police at 5:00 p.m. first notified the public that an "unknown man is threatening to blow up the Metro Bridge," in reference to a key artery that links a metro line and highway across the Dnieper River.

Traffic virtually came to a halt in the area on both banks of the river.

Pictures and videos from the scene showed a police drone hovering above the bridge, snipers positioned on tower rooftops, two armored personnel carriers, numerous police officers armed with automatic rifles, and a bomb squad present.

Police qualified the incident as a preparation to carry out a terrorist act, Kryshchenko said.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, Ukrainska Pravda, Hromadske, Espresso, UNIAN, Interfax, and 112 News