"Due to the terrorism threat we are currently facing, the law enforcement agencies are beginning a preventive operation in the city. Therefore, to ensure the control over the situation, a significant number of special police and cargo military vehicles as well as people equipped with automatic guns will be seen on the streets of the region's center," an official statement from the regional police said.
According to the statement, police officers will be stopping suspicious individuals and searching their personal belongings. The statement does not specify the time frames for the operation.
Odesa already suffered several bombings earlier this month. On December 3, a blast destroyed a city-center shop called Patriot that sold Ukrainian paraphernalia. On December 10, an explosion shook the office of the "Volunteers' Hundred" movement. On December 24, a bomb was detonated at the Zastava-1 railway station. Most recently, on Friday night, a person who is believed to have been carrying an explosive device died when it exploded in Odesa suburbs.
