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Deadly explosion at march in eastern Ukraine

February 22, 2015

An explosive device that went off in a crowd of marchers celebrating Ukraine's 2014 revolution has caused over a dozen casualties. The country's Interior Ministry condemned the "terrorist act" far from the frontline.

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Ukraine Gedenken am 1. Jahrestag des Blutbads auf dem Maidan
Commemorations of those killed in during last year's Euromaidan protests were held across Ukraine, such as the one pictured above in KyivImage: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko

An explosion erupted at a pro-Ukrainian march marking one year since the ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovych in the eastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday. At least two people were killed and 10 wounded after the blast in Ukraine's second-largest city, according to media reports quoting Ukrainian officials.

The explosion of an unidentified device, which a statement from the Interior Ministry termed a "terrorist act," went off near a metro station, as a large crowd of participants in the rally passed by, police said. One witness said an explosive was thrown from a passing car into the crowd.

Authorities later detained a number of suspects in connection with the bomb attack, an aide to Ukraine's security and defense council, Markian Lubkivskyi, said on Facebook.

Kharkiv is more than 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the frontline where government forces are fighting pro-Russian separatists. The incident coincided with relatively positive news surrounding the conflict, as both sides exchanged prisoners on Saturday night and agreed to a withdrawal of heavy weapons on Sunday, two important resolutions from a ceasefire deal signed in Minsk earlier in the month.

Other rallies celebrating the overthrow of Ukraine's pro-Kremlin leader Yanukovych after protesters were shot by snipers in Kyiv last year were taking place at in the Ukrainian capital and other cities in government-controlled regions of Ukraine on Saturday. German President Joachim Gauck was expected to attend the march in Kyiv.

es/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters)