Ukraine crisis: President's bodyguards discover 'powerful' explosive placed outside government headquarters

The device was filled with five grenades and laced with metal bolts

Tom Payne
Saturday 14 June 2014 13:00 BST
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A landslide presidential victory has given Petro Poroshenko the mandate to get tough
A landslide presidential victory has given Petro Poroshenko the mandate to get tough

An extremely powerful bomb was discovered outside Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s headquarters last night, according to security sources.

The new President’s bodyguards disposed of the explosive, which was filled with five grenades and a kilogram of metal bolts.

A security source who did not want to be identified told Reuters: "The device was found during the night near the gate where presidential cars go in. It was a really powerful device."

The source was unable to offer any further details, and the President’s administration did not immediately issue a statement.

Poroshenko was sworn in last week after winning an election on May 25.

His predecessor, Viktor Yanukovich, was ousted in February after protests in Kiev and the government is facing a rebellion by pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine.

Last night, 49 Ukrainian services personnel were killed when pro-Russian separatists shot down a large military transport plane in the country's unsettled east.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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