Gun police blast car in embassy raid scare
ARMED police opened fire on a car outside the Ukrainian Embassy in London yesterday after the driver repeatedly rammed the ambassador’s official vehicle in a ‘bizarre and terrifying’ attack.
A silver Mercedes sped up the road in Holland Park – home to several foreign embassies – before smashing into ambassador Natalia Galibarenko’s parked BMW at 9.50am.
According to Ukrainian officials, the Mercedes then reversed and crashed into the BMW a further five times. Fearing a terror attack, more than a dozen heavily armed police arrived in minutes and opened fire when the Mercedes headed towards them.
Our pictures reveal the moment the driver, believed to be in his 40s, was hauled from his car and forced to the ground. Scotland Yard said he was later arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of police officers and of causing criminal damage. Mrs Galibarenko, 41, who is married and has a 12-year-old child, was not in the ambassadorial car or at the embassy at the time of the attack.
Scotland Yard said that it was not treating the incident as terror-related.
The motive for the attack remained unclear last night, but it comes amid tensions over presidential elections in the eastern European country.
Denys Sienik, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Embassy, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The embassy was closed at the time but the guard on duty said there was a really loud bang. He saw the car had hit the ambassador’s car, which was parked outside.
‘It then reversed and hit the ambassador’s car again and again – five times in total.
‘The guard called the police and they were very professional and appeared very quickly.
‘When the police got to the embassy, the man started moving towards them so they opened fire to stop the vehicle. The man refused to get out so they took him by force to get him out of the car. It was bizarre and terrifying.’
The incident happened in one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in London. David and Victoria Beckham are among the celebrities who live nearby.
David Hinsley, 51, who lives opposite the embassy, said: ‘I saw the blue flashing lights. I looked out the window and could see the silver Mercedes. The driver had been boxed in by three police cars. The silver car was parked diagonally in the middle of the road and started reversing. That’s when the police started firing. There were between five and eight gunshots.’
Last night, Foreign Office Minister Sir Alan Duncan tweeted: ‘Very concerned to hear of the incident. I have just spoken to Ambassador Galibarenko and am glad to hear that no one was hurt.’