KIEV, Jan. 20 – Two explosions rocked the city of Makiyivka on Thursday, shattering a coal company headquarters and a marketplace, and sending hundreds of security agents and police to investigate the “terrorist” strike.

Although no one was hurt by the explosions, an anonymous message was later discovered threatening at least five more blasts unless the authorities pay 4.2 million euros in ransom.

Underscoring the seriousness of the threat, President Viktor Yanukovych cut short his four-day visit to Japan, and returned to Ukraine on Friday to hold a meeting with law enforcement officials.

While on his way to Ukraine, Yanukovych ordered law enforcement agencies to step up surveillance and put thousands of police on alert across the country in order to “protect” the people.

The strict police measures come just days ahead of a massive opposition rally scheduled to take place across Ukraine on Saturday.

Interior Minister Anatoliy Mohyliov a week ago predicted “bloodshed” at the rally, and said it had been planned in order to discredit Yanukovych and his government.

In a sharp reversal though, a senior police official on Thursday - hours after the explosions in Makiyivka - said the information about the upcoming “bloodshed” in Kiev appears to have not been confirmed.

The latest blasts increase to four the number of explosions that have rocked Ukraine since the election of Yanukovych to the presidency in February 2010.

There were no reports of explosions during the five years of presidency of Yanukovych’s predecessor, Viktor Yushchenko, nor during the presidency of Leonid Kuchma, Yushchenko’s predecessor.

Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister and the leader of the largest opposition party who planned to lead the massive rally on Saturday, said she suspected the explosions may have been set off to distract the people from worsening economic and social problems.

“There is a technique in the world when clear failures by the authorities are covered up by non-understandable explosions,” Tymoshenko told Ukrayinska Pravda on Thursday. “I don’t want my forecast to become true, but I have my suspicions.”

“There were much harder times, especially during Kuchma, when people would not get salaries for 10-12 months, and nobody planted any bombs,” Tymoshenko said. “That’s why this all looks strange.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s security service, SBU, has been investigating the blasts in Makiyivka as “terrorism,” according to SBU chief Valeriy Khoroshkovskiy.

“The measure taken by the authorities and by the law enforcement agencies service are aimed at making sure that nothing threatens anybody,” Khoroshkovskiy said at a press conference in Makiyivka “As of right now, I can say that we can be confident that the situation has been localized.”

The first blast was set off in a public phone cabin near the Golden Plaza marketplace in Makiyivka on 4:37 am, while the second explosion was set off at 5:05 am in front of headquarters of MakiyivkaVuhillia, a local coal extracting company.

The blasts shattered and smashed windows in the office building, causing some damages to the office exterior.

A letter, found nearby, contained a threat of at least five more explosions in public places of Makiyivka unless the authorities deliver 4.2 million euros to an indicated address, according to Vasyl Farinnyk, a deputy interior minister.

Apparently as a precaution, the authorities evacuated the entire local government offices in the city of Makiyivka, and restricted access to the building.

Khoroshkovskiy admitted that the SBU has been focusing the investigation on the explosions being an intimidation in order to get the ransom.

“The investigation is working on all versions,” Khoroshkovskiy said. “But obviously, from material that we have, the No. 1 version is linked with the financial resources, the willingness to get a certain amount of money.”

“In my opinion, the proximity of the explosions to the offices of the authorities was supposed to underscore this need to demand a certain financial sum,” Khoroshkovskiy said. “The explosions were the act of intimidation.” (tl/ez)