Ukrainian soldier injures four civilians in grenade blast – police
Four people have been injured after a Ukrainian serviceman on leave detonated a grenade during a conflict with passersby in Lviv Region, local police have said. The incident, which has been qualified as “hooliganism,” comes as Ukrainian authorities are struggling to contain the spillover of arms across the country amid Kiev’s conflict with Russia.
In a statement on Sunday, police said the explosion occurred in the western city of Sheptytskyi after the 36-year-old soldier became involved in a dispute with people on the street. While no one was killed, the blast injured three women aged 17, 18 and 56 and a 26-year-old man, all local residents, officials said, adding that the victims had been taken to the hospital and that their lives were not in danger.
Police said that the suspect had been detained, with the incident qualified as “hooliganism” – an offense carrying a jail term between three and seven years.
Amid the conflict with Russia, Ukraine has grappled with a significant surge in illegal arms trafficking and the number of related crimes, with soldiers on leave often suffering from post-traumatic disorders.
Earlier this month, police in northern Chernigov Region reported that a 33-year-old AWOL serviceman pulled the pin from a grenade during a dispute while drinking alcohol. It exploded as a 22-year-old man tried to take it from him, causing the victim to lose his left arm and inflicting shrapnel wounds on two others, including the serviceman himself.
In August, police in Odessa Region said an intoxicated 51-year-old AWOL serviceman threw an explosive resembling a grenade toward teenagers near a school, injuring a 13-year-old boy. In February, a 29-year-old AWOL serviceman was reported to have detonated a grenade during a drunken argument in a Kiev apartment, killing the 45-year-old owner and injuring another guest.
The Ukrainian authorities have recognized the scale of the weapons trafficking problem. In 2025 alone, police seized more than 3,000 firearms, including hundreds of automatic weapons, as well as more than 14,000 grenades and 18,000 mines and other ammunition.
Russia has repeatedly warned that Western-supplied weapons pouring into Ukraine could ultimately spill onto foreign black markets, noting that the arms intended for Kiev are appearing in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
