Kharkiv Mayor receives surgery, remains in stable condition

Kharkiv Mayor Gennadiy Kernes was operated on on Wednesday night at an Israeli hospital where he was flown to yesterday. His condition remains stable.

Photo: AP photo

The ten-hour operation took place in the main hospital of the city of Haifa.

The mayor was shot in the back on Monday; the bullet injured his lung, liver and spine. Doctors of the Kharkiv hospital operated Kernes, but described his general condition as heavy. The patient was then sent to Israel, where he was immersed in medical sleep.

As deputy prosecutor of the Kharkiv region, Konstantin Turkov said, investigators consider four basic versions of the attempted assassination of Kernes. They are related to professional activities of the mayor, his activities in the commercial sphere, personal hostilities or hostilities on the part of the supporters of federalization. However, many believe that the mayor could be an obstacle for the new authorities in Kiev.