A gunman wielding an automatic weapon on Saturday killed six people and barricaded himself inside a supermarket with hostages in Kyiv before he was shot and killed by police, authorities said.
At least 14 people were wounded and taken to the hospital.
The 58-year-old attacker was not named by police, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was born in Russia, as authorities worked to piece together a motive for the violence.
Photo: AFP
The mass shooting — unheard of in Kyiv following Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — took place in a busy central district of the city, outside an apartment block and a nearby shopping center, leaving bodies on a crowded street as bystanders fled for safety.
“The assailant has been neutralized. He had taken hostages and, tragically, killed one of them. He also murdered four people on the street. Another woman died in the hospital due to severe injuries,” Zelenskiy said. “It has been established that the attacker set fire to an apartment before taking to the streets with a weapon.”
“He had a prior criminal record, had lived in the Donetsk region [in eastern Ukraine] for a long period, and was born in Russia,” he added.
Ukraine’s special tactical police units stormed the convenience store after attempts to contact the gunman with a negotiator failed, Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said.
The hostages were supermarket customers and staff.
“We tried to persuade him, knowing that there was likely a wounded person inside. We even offered to bring in tourniquets to stop the bleeding, but he did not respond,” Klymenko said. “Consequently, the order was given to neutralize him.”
The gunman had a valid weapon’s permit, the minister added.
Ukraine’s security service described the killings as an act of terrorism.
The shooting took place in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district, where several residents said they recognized the gunman.
“I knew him by sight. He seemed like an educated, refined man. You’d never guess he was some kind of criminal,” said 75-year-old Hanna Kulyk, who lived in the same apartment block as the attacker.
“He didn’t socialize much with people — just a greeting and he’d be on his way,” she said. “He lived alone.”
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