Two blasts took place simultaneously in the eastern Ukrainian town of Makiyivka early on Thursday and although no one was hurt, more attacks were threatened for later in the day, local police said, according to Reuters. The Interior Ministry said unidentified attackers had left a note at one of the explosion sites demanding money and warning they would set up five more explosions at 5.00 p.m. (1500 GMT) local time. "From what has already happened we see that they're not joking," Deputy Interior Minister Vasyl Farynnik said on state television. Ukraine's SBU security service said it did not rule out that the blasts, which took place in President Viktor Yanukovich's home region of Donetsk, were an act of terrorism. According to local newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnya, the note at the blast site read "We are fed up with of this government, we want 4 million euros, there are bombs planted in other buildings in the town". Police spokesman Ihor Dyomin said the blasts occurred at 0400 GMT, one near the building of a local coal company and the other at the city's market. Ukrainian news agencies said the blasts only damaged windows. Last October, three small bombs went off next to government buildings in the Ukrainian city of Kirovograd, hours before a visit by Yanukovich. They did not cause any injuries and the police said they were acts of hooliganism. This month, unidentified attackers used explosives to destroy a monument to Joseph Stalin in the city of Zaporizhya.
