Cracker of a gift: Ukraine Army chief's aide gets live grenade as birthday present, explodes killing him, hurting son

A close of the head of Ukraine’s armed forces died a tragic death opening his birthday present which blew up as it contained grenade inside. Maj Hennadiy Chastyakov, 39, a close aide of head of Ukraine’s armed forces Valery Zaluzhny returned to his home with his birthday presents gifted to him by him colleagues. With his 13-year-old son sitting next to him, Maj Chastyakov was opening his presents when grenade exploded. Maj Chastyakov was killed and his son was left seriously injured. A report by BBC quoted Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko saying the boy of Maj Chastyakov had started turning the ring on the grenade. “Then, the serviceman took the grenade from the child and pulled the ring, causing a tragic explosion.” The blast has been described as a “tragic accident” and the Ukrainian minister has appealed to the public to wait for the outcome of an official investigation. Also, it emerged that another five grenades were found in the flat which Klymenko said had been a gift from a colleague in the army. Two similar grenades were later found in a search of the colleague, described as a colonel in the army. Meanwhile, the police said the explosion in the house at Chaiky in the western outskirts of Kyiv had been “as a result of careless handling of ammunition”.