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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A prosecutor from Kharkov oblast in Ukraina said that seven unidentified pro Russian, anti-Maidan guerrillas were detained last Friday in connection with a large number of explosions in and around Kharkov city since November 9th, according to Russian language news reports.
Three detonations took place since last Thursday, according to a news item in regnum.ru news outlet. One at an oil facility at the railyard, another at a military hospital the day before, and the third at an electrical substation on Thursday. In the article no damage was detailed, although it is probable property was damaged.
The November 21st detonation took place at a military hospital, tearing a hole in a fence, but resulting in no injuries. The attack on the electrical substation, while still under investigation was said to have affected the military hospital.
The Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs (MVD), Anton Gerashchenko suggested to the press that the bombing at the hospital could be classified as an act of terrorism if it were committed "by human hands".
The report goes on to note that despite claims of the MVD -- that the attack on the military hospital was a potential act of terrorism -- a case for destruction of property was filed by the local prosecution.
Those three latest detonations are in addition to two other bombings, one at a Kharkov city cafe November 9th, which wounded 13 unidentified individuals and another bombing attack on a local draft board, Lozovsky draft board, also in Kharkov city.
The attack at the Stena cafe has called an act of terrorism by the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Aleksandr Pivovar The cafe was used as a collection point for aid for Ukrainian refugees from the Don Basin civil war, as well as aid for soldiers recovering from their wounds in that war.
Pivovar was reported in the media saying the group he said is responsible for the last three bombings have also committed 12 other attacks which can be prosecuted under anti terrorism laws.
The seven detainees Pivovar called the Kharkov partisan group are being held in preventative detention, without bail. Five more are being sought by Ukrainian authorities, according the regional prosecutor Yuri Danilchenko.
Pivovar noted that the leadership of the group resides in nearby Belgorod, but the SBU said that the group also has about 10 "strike groups", presumably another term for cell, in Kharkov oblast (province). Attacks similar to the others, such as the bombings last week, are expected to continue.
On the eve of the November 4th parliamentary elections, according to Pivovar, a plastics explosive device was seized from a guerrilla cell in Kharkov, which he said was of "Soviet vintage", meaning at least a Russian seller was involved in the transfer of explosives to the Kharkov guerrilla group.
Chris Covert writes about foreign military issues for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. You can read past articles about the 2014 war in southeastern Ukraina by clicking here.