Pershyi Kryvorizkyi team receives bomb threats

Photo by dnepr.express

The Pershyi Kryvorizhskyi editorial team received an anonymous email claiming that a bomb had been planted in the building where the media outlet's office is located, reports executive director Sophia Skyba to the Institute of Mass Information representative in Dnipropetrovska oblast, Kateryna Lysiuk.

The anonymous sender says that they have planted an explosive device in the building and advises to evacuate people from the premises to avoid casualties.

“Recently, bomb threats have been received by many editorial offices besides us. Of course, we report these to the police. Last time, they came to us at the end of the day. They took our statements but did not search the building with dogs. We understand that there is a 99% chance that these are scammers, Russians, pranksters – most likely Russians – however, such incidents add no enthusiasm to the team’s work,” said Sophia Skyba.

Angelina Kradozhon, senior communications inspector at the Kryvyi Rih district police, said in a comment to the IMI representative that specialists were checking for explosive devices on site.

“The police received a bomb report at 1:45 p.m.. The information is currently being verified. Specialists are working on site and checking for explosive devices,” Kradozhon said.

She also reported that on January 29, emails with bomb threats were also received by several local media outlets and the Executive Committee of the Kryvyi Rih City Council.

As the IMI reported, the Russians continued to intimidate and threaten journalists in 2024. The IMI recorded three waves (in October, November, and December) of anonymous threats to bomb multiple editorial offices and institutions across Ukraine: several media outlets and journalists received identical emails claiming this.