Two stories from Kyiv's news cycle in early August 2021
A look back at a grenade scare at the Cabinet of Ministers building and a Belarusian athlete's flight from Tokyo, both reported in the days before 5 August 2021.
What did Kyiv's news look like on 5 August 2021? Two stories from the preceding days stood out: one about security at the heart of government, the other about a Belarusian sprinter whose family link to Ukraine drew attention to the country.
On 4 August 2021, police in Kyiv arrested a man who had entered the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers building carrying a grenade. He had threatened to detonate it. He was detained, and the episode ended with an arrest rather than an explosion. It was a reminder that even a main government building could be entered by someone carrying a weapon.
The second story began in Tokyo. On 2 August 2021, Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya entered the Polish embassy after refusing to board a flight to Belarus at Haneda Airport. She had asked Japanese police for protection. The Japanese government said it would take measures to protect her stay, and multiple European countries offered her asylum.
Her husband had already left Belarus and entered Ukraine, which tied the affair to Kyiv. The Games themselves had been postponed from 2020 and were held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Later, Belarus, along with Russia, was barred from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That was far from view in August 2021, when the focus was on an arrest in the government quarter and an athlete's search for safety.
