KIEV, April 28. /ITAR-TASS/. Parliament-appointed interim Ukrainian President and Parliament Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov instructed the country’s Interior Ministry and the Security Service “to hold immediately a probe in an attempt on the life of (east Ukraine) Kharkiv Mayor Gennady Kernes and report about its results,” the Ukrainian parliamentary press service told ITAR-TASS on Monday.

A cartridge shell “presumably from a sniper rifle” was found at the place where an attempt on Kernes’ life was committed, chief of the city executive committee department on ties with media Irina Kushchenko said earlier.

Kernes suffered an attempt on his life at around 1pm Moscow time (9am GMT) on Monday, when he was riding a bike on Belgorod highway. The Kharkiv mayor has got a bullet wound in the back. A group of police operatives and detectives are working at the crime scene. The police have opened a criminal case over the attempted murder.

The surgery on wounded Kernes lasted for several hours, the Kharkiv mayor’s office press service said. According to medical estimates, he is unconscious and “a threat to his life remains.” Medics said that Kernes had suffered a broken chest and damaged internal organs.