Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify that the suspect has not been arrested.
The State Investigation Bureau (DBR) has identified a 36-year-old American citizen, who is suspected of calling in a bomb threat to the DBR’s office in Kyiv on Nov. 12. Law enforcement did not find a bomb in the building, the bureau stated on Nov. 18.
While the suspect is an American citizen, he was born in Lviv Oblast in western Ukraine and has dual citizenship. Ukrainian legislation does not recognize dual citizenship for citizens of Ukraine, but does not state an official punishment for having it. As a result, dual citizenship remains a gray area in Ukrainian law.
Police have opened a criminal case against the American for falsely reporting a bomb. The DBR identified the suspect’s location and passed the case to the Holosiivskyi district police to issue the American a notice of suspicion and conduct a pre-trial investigation. According to the DBR, a decision will be made as to whether to bring the suspect into custody.
Bomb threats are a common occurrence in Ukraine, with most of them proving to be false. In 2019, law enforcement opened 2,000 criminal cases over false bomb threats.
Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, is now considering a bill to increase the punishment for false bomb reports.
“The number of knowingly false reports of threats to the safety of citizens and destruction or damage to property has recently reached alarming proportions,” Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in July. “Law enforcement officers are forced to respond to each such message, using a significant amount of special equipment and personnel.”
Currently, the penalty for bomb threats can be from two to six years in prison. The government hopes to add confiscation of property to the punishment.
Additionally, the new bill will also increase the prison sentence to four to eight years if the suspect intentionally reports a bomb at a civil infrastructure site such as a train station, subway or airport.
“Thousands of people get stressed, thousands of people are late for their business at work or at home,” Anton Geraschenko, Avakov’s deputy, said, describing the damage these bomb threats cause.
On Nov. 4, 235 lawmakers passed the bill in its first reading.
