A contentious meeting to discuss a Ukrainian village's 2024 budget turned to carnage on Friday morning when a politician aligned with President Volodymyr Zelensky dropped hand grenades on the floor, wounding 26 attendees, including himself. The incident took place in the western village of Keretsky -- population 4,000 -- in mountainous territory near the Hungarian border.
Ukrainska Pravda has identified the attacker as Serhiy Batryn, a member of Zelensky's Servant of the People Party. Some outlets say he is a member of the Ukraine parliament, while others identify him as a village council member. Citing a Ukraine Telegram channel, the New York Post reports Batryn was arguing that he and colleagues should be allowed to fully report on this year's budget before the 2024 budget was discussed.
Bartryn is said to have a long-running, contentious relationship with the village chief -- and was opposed to a 2024 budget provision awarding the chief a 50% pay raise and monthly bonus for the duration of the war. The heated meeting was almost an hour and a half underway when Batryn left the room with another man, but then returned alone a few minutes later to stand just inside the doorway.
Video captured the slowly unfolding horror. Pulling grenades from his coat pockets, Batryn seeks the attention of the crowd by asking, "May I? May I?" While speaking, he pulls the pins from the grenades and casually tosses them to the floor in front of him, in a space between the front row of spectators and the village officials.
The attendees flinch, however, demonstrating normalcy bias -- people's tendency to ignore or disbelieve indicators of danger -- almost all of them simply watch as all three grenades are dropped to the floor. One woman can be seen leaning away as if bracing against firecrackers rather than imminent, shrapnel-propelling explosions. Another in the second row merely covers her ears.
The grenades detonate, and the scene instantly transforms into smoky chaos, filled with shouting and agonized screams. While none have died thus far, dozens were injured. "Twenty-six people were wounded, six of whom are in a grave condition," police said in a statement reported by BBC. Batryn is said to be among the most seriously injured.
During a village council meeting in Ukraine’s western Zakarpattia region on Friday (December 15), a local legislator brought grenades and triggered an explosion, resulting in one death and 24 injuries, according to the national police. The incident occurred during an ongoing… pic.twitter.com/S9uiSwixR3
— Geopolitics & Empire (@Geopolitics_Emp) December 15, 2023
The bloodshed was first reported to police by a woman who watched it play out on a live broadcast. Police say the grenade attack will be investigated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), a hybrid intelligence and law enforcement entity which also engages in foreign operations, such as last month's bombing of a rail line in Siberia.
Other than the war-bonus-dispute, there's no indication the incident was related to Ukraine's ongoing war with Russia -- that is, beyond the possibility that grenades are far easier to come by as the United States and Western allies pour billions of dollars of weaponry into Ukraine, with many critics saying there are insufficient controls in place to ensure they aren't diverted from the war effort and into the black market.
