Incident Summary:

02/22/2018: Assailants armed with bottles of gasoline set fire to the Fourth Power news headquarters in Rivne, Ukraine. There were no reported casualties in the attack. No group claimed responsibility for the incident.

GTD ID:
201802220022

When:
2018-02-22

Country:
Ukraine

Region:
Eastern Europe

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

Rivne

City:
Rivne

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Armed Assault
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Journalists & Media
Name of Entity Fourth Power
Specific Description Headquarters
Nationality of Target Ukraine
Additional Information
Hostages No
Ransom No
Property Damage Yes
Extent of Property Damage Minor (likely < $1 million)
Value of Property Damage Unknown
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Incendiary Molotov Cocktail/Petrol Bomb
Weapon Details
Two gasoline-filled bottles were used in the attack.
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?No
Part of Multiple Incident?No
Criterion 1 (more) No
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Doubt Terrorism Proper (more) Yes
Alternate Designation (more) Other Crime Type
Additional Information There is doubt that this incident meets terrorism-related criteria. Sources suspected that the news organization may have been targeted because of its reporting on local corruption.
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
Unknown No
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators 1
Number of Captured Perpetrators 0
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties 0 Fatalities / 0 Injured
Total Number of Fatalities 0
Number of U.S. Fatalities 0
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities 0
Total Number of Injured 0
Number of U.S. Injured 0
Number of Perpetrators Injured 0
Sources
"Ukraine website hit by arson attack, server outage," International Press Institute, February 27, 2018.
"Arson attack on news website in northwestern Ukraine," Reporters Sans Frontières, February 23, 2018.
"Ukraine: Lviv Region media highlights 17-23 Feb 18," BBC Monitoring, February 23, 2018.