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Grenade Explosion at Odessa Checkpoint Injures 7 in Ukraine

A general view shows a checkpont where an explosive device blew up near Odessa, Ukraine.

An explosion near the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa has injured seven people, a news report said Friday.

The local news source Vzglyad of Odessa reported that a grenade thrown at a pro-government checkpoint outside the city had injured six Euromaidan activists and a police officer.

Eyewitnesses to the incident said they had seen the grenade being thrown out of a passing car around 4 a.m., Interfax reported.

All the wounded were taken to the hospital where the police officer and one activist are reportedly being treated for serious injuries.

The head of police in the region announced this week that pro-Kiev activists would be accepted into special units that would guard checkpoints like the one attacked Friday.

Odessa, a largely Russian-speaking city on the Black Sea with a population of about 1 million, has been the site of increasing protests against the Ukrainian government in Kiev, though it has not resulted in the seizures of government buildings as in eastern regions of the country.

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