The incident took place in the western village of Keretsky -- population 4,000 -- in mountainous territory near the Hungarian border. 

Ukrainska Pravda has identified the attacker as Serhiy Batryn, a member of Zelensky's Servant of the People Party. Some outlets say he is a member of the Ukraine parliament, while others identify him as a village council member. Citing a Ukraine Telegram channel, the New York Post reports Batryn was arguing that he and colleagues should be allowed to fully report on this year's budget before the 2024 budget was discussed.  

Bartryn is said to have a long-running, contentious relationship with the village chief -- and was opposed to a 2024 budget provision awarding the chief a 50% pay raise and monthly bonus for the duration of the war. The heated meeting was almost an hour and a half underway when Batryn left the room with another man, but then returned alone a few minutes later to stand just inside the doorway.

Video captured the slowly unfolding horror. Pulling grenades from his coat pockets, Batryn seeks the attention of the crowd by asking, "May I? May I?"  While speaking, he pulls the pins from the grenades and casually tosses them to the floor in front of him, in a space between the front row of spectators and the village officials.

The attendees flinch, however, demonstrating normalcy bias -- people's tendency to ignore or disbelieve indicators of danger -- almost all of them simply watch as all three grenades are dropped to the floor. One woman can be seen leaning away as if bracing against firecrackers rather than imminent, shrapnel-propelling explosions. Another in the second row merely covers her ears.