Ukrainian police agree blast near U.S. embassy in Kyiv was 'malicious hooliganism' rather than terror attack

Ukrainian police have re-classified an explosion near the U.S. embassy in Kyiv early on Thursday, which was previously tentatively treated as an act of terrorism, as malicious hooliganism, the Ukrainian National Police press department said.

"The object that was thrown onto the embassy's territory could not have harmed anyone. Therefore, it's been decided ultimately to classify this incident as malicious hooliganism," the department quoted National Police chief Serhiy Kniazev as saying.

The U.S. embassy to Ukraine had said earlier in the day that it did not consider the explosion a terrorist attack.

After the scene of the blast was examined more carefully, the police determined signs of a criminal offence covered by Ukrainian Criminal Code Article 296, Part 4 (hooliganism), Kniazev said.

The investigation has been assigned to the National Police's main investigative directorate and criminal investigations department, he said.

At the same time, the Ukrainian Security Service is looking into possible terrorist designs behind the crime.

It was reported earlier that Kyiv police had received a report at 0:05 a.m. on Thursday about an explosion on the grounds of the U.S. embassy. An initial inquiry determined that an unidentified person had thrown an unidentified explosive device onto embassy territory. The blast did not harm anyone.