Photo: RBC
In the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv on April 18, a man opened fire on people in a shooting incident that unfolded both on the street and inside a supermarket, according to the National Police of Ukraine.
Local reports initially indicated that the attacker had taken hostages inside a “Velmart” supermarket. The Ministry of Internal Affairs later confirmed that the man held people captive inside the store and also fired at law enforcement officers who arrived at the scene.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that the number of injured rose to 15, including a child and a store security guard. He later confirmed that four people were killed on the street and one inside the supermarket. A 30-year-old woman later died in hospital from severe injuries, bringing the death toll to six.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko stated that KORD special forces carried out a storming operation at the supermarket after approximately 40 minutes of negotiations with the attacker, who refused to comply with police demands. The suspect was subsequently neutralized.
According to Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, the shooter was a 58-year-old man born in Moscow. Investigators also reported that after the initial killings, he barricaded himself inside the supermarket and continued holding hostages.
Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported that the attacker is believed to be Dmytro Vasylchenkov, who had lived in Bakhmut in the Donetsk region before moving to Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district.
The Prosecutor General’s Office also stated that a fire broke out in the apartment registered to the suspect, which he allegedly set on fire before the attack. A four-month-old baby in a neighboring apartment suffered carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of the blaze.
