On the approaches to Kyiv, AvtoPortal recorded reinforced traffic police patrols, with standard inspectors additionally backed by military personnel in the uniforms of the former special unit "Kobra". As clarified by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, these are special purpose police units.
The fighters are positioned slightly further away, in shelters, and are in full readiness for action. The enhanced service regime was introduced after a series of attacks on traffic police officers.
First, in Zhytomyr, when traffic police inspectors were patrolling together with public activists, the patrol was attacked, though without the use of weapons. Then, in the Darnytskyi district of the capital, unknown individuals opened fire on a traffic police car. The most resonant incident was the shooting of a traffic police crew on the night of March 1-2.
The incident occurred at the "Bykivnia" checkpoint, located on the exit from Kyiv towards Brovary. The perpetrators in a silver "Lanos" approached the patrol and from close range shot all three inspectors with Kalashnikov assault rifles. The main target of the attack was the service weapons of the traffic police officers.
At that moment, there were three unarmed self-defense activists in the checkpoint building, whom the criminals did not notice. These activists stopped a passing police patrol, which gave chase to the "Lanos".
The pursuers managed to force the bandits to abandon the car and the stolen weapons, but the attackers themselves fled into the forest belt near the village of Zazymia. Officers from the Dniprovskyi and Desnianskyi district departments arrived at the scene, began combing the area, and even wounded one of the attackers. The criminals still managed to escape into the forest, but the police are doing everything possible to detain them as soon as possible.
