At least five people have been killed and several others injured, according to authorities
An armed man has opened fire and seized a supermarket in Kiev, leaving at least five people dead and several wounded, the Ukrainian authorities have confirmed.
The incident unfolded on Saturday evening in the southwestern Goloseyevsky district, where the attacker reportedly began shooting at random before barricading himself inside a Velmart supermarket, taking several people hostage.
Police said special forces units were deployed and a cordon established around the area in an operation to detain the suspect.
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko initially said at least two people were killed and 15 others wounded. He confirmed that a child was among the wounded and has been taken to the hospital; other victims were receiving treatment at the scene.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has expressed condolences following the attack, confirming in a Telegram post that five people were killed and ten others hospitalized with various injuries. He said the circumstances of the shooting “are being clarified” and that he instructed the interior minister and the head of the National Police to provide information to the public as soon as it becomes available.
According to local reports, the gunman was armed with an automatic weapon.
Police later said the shooter was killed when officers stormed the store where he was hiding. The motive remains unclear, and the authorities have not released details about the suspect.
Footage shared by Ukrainian media purports to show the suspected gunman running through a residential neighborhood carrying what looks like an automatic rifle. Another video apparently shows him shooting a pedestrian who tried to stop him.
Recent videos shared by the media show hostages being evacuated from the building. Some reports suggest that the gunman may have been forcibly conscripted days earlier and fled his unit before carrying out the attack.
Ukrainskaya Pravda claims that the shooter was identified as Dmitry Vasilchenkov, 57, who was born in Moscow and holds Ukrainian citizenship.
April 18, 2026 at 08:50PM
RT