Ukraine Says Foiled Bombing of Kiev Apartment Block

Ukraine's security services said Thursday they had detained four members of a pro-Russian group suspected of plotting to blow up a block of flats in Kiev.

"They planned to blow up a building in Obolon and were caught red-handed," Olena Gitlyanska, spokeswoman for the SBU security services, told AFP, referring to a large residential area in northern Kiev.

The four men resisted arrest, hurling a hand grenade at special forces, the SBU said.

The SBU agents fired back, wounding one of the suspects in the leg.

The targeted block of flats housed on the ground floor a center collecting public donations for armed forces battling pro-Russian separatists in the east.

The men were seized close to the center, run by far-right organization the Right Sector.

Citing its own sources, the Right Sector said the security services believed the "terrorists" had sought to blow up the block of flats and not the donation center.

Donation centers accept financial contributions as well as clothing, tents and other items for soldiers, including children's letters and drawings.

The men arrested were all Ukrainian citizens, although the leader was born in Russia, the SBU spokeswoman said.

After the foiled attack, the group's leader planned to flee to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, the SBU said.

Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of attempting to destabilize the situation in the country as the conflict in the east has claimed more than 6,800 lives since April last year.

Kiev and the West say Russia provides military support for the rebels, which Moscow denies.

The foiled attack came after street battles between hundreds of protesters and police broke out in the Ukrainian capital Monday as lawmakers gave their initial approval to legislation granting more autonomy to the rebel-held eastern regions.

As a result of the clashes, three members of the National Guard were killed and more than 140 people wounded.

Authorities blamed ultra-nationalists, who oppose the controversial legislation, for the unrest.