A resident of Kyiv who received a parcel filled with weapons and explosives was arrested at one of the capital's private mail delivery points on Aug. 20, the police reported. The man, who was not identified by the police, was sent seven cardboard boxes filled with forty hand grenades of different types, six grenade launchers, 35 fuses and nearly 5,000 cartridges of ammunition.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement released on Aug. 20 that the suspect who received the parcels is 25 years old, has no previous convictions and comes from Chernihiv Oblast. He works and lives in Kyiv.
The packages were sent through Nova Poshta, a large private postal company. It could not be reached for comment on this story.
The company had previously said it was still shipping from some parts of eastern Ukraine, despite growing difficulties. It had to close many branches in Donetsk and Luhansk region lately, and relocated 200 of its workers.
Oleksandr Tereshuk, Kyiv’s police chief, said that the police searched the man’s home after capturing him at the post office, and found more weapons: 3,500 cartridges for weapons, more than 20 grenades and ammunition for Kalashnikov automatic rifles. An unspecified number of laptops and cell phones were also confiscated.
The arrested man told the police that he was a member of Oplot, a pro-Russian organization which had become visible during the EuroMaidan revolution, when it organized anti-Maidan rallies.
He said that his friend, also an Oplot member, went to the east of Ukraine and asked him to collect several parcels in Kyiv, promising to pick them up before Independence Day, which is celebrated on Aug. 24. It’s not clear whether the man knew about the content of the parcels.
Oplot could not be reached for comment.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement released on Aug. 20 that the suspect who received the parcels is 25 years old, has no previous convictions and comes from Chernihiv Oblast. He works and lives in Kyiv.
The packages were sent through Nova Poshta, a large private postal company.
The company said that it cooperates with the law enforcers when it’s required by law, but could not give any specific information about the case.
“Under
the current circumstances, when the risk of terrorist attacks is
growing across Ukraine, in cases when the company receives a request
from the law enforcement agencies who have proper legal basis (a
court order, and such), which allow them to conduct actions to
counter-act terrorism, representatives of our company within the
framework of law cooperate with the law enforcers,” Nova Poshta
spokesman Daniel Wachowski said.
The company had previously said it was still shipping from some parts of eastern Ukraine, despite growing difficulties. It had to close many branches in Donetsk and Luhansk region lately, and relocated 200 of its workers.
Kyiv Post staff writer Iryna Savchuk can be reached at [email protected]
