Ukraine: Gunman kills 6 in Kyiv supermarket siege before being shot dead by police

A gunman armed with an automatic weapon killed six people and took hostages inside a supermarket in Ukraine’s capital before being shot dead by police after a tense standoff, authorities said.

At least 14 people were injured in the attack and taken to hospitals, officials said, describing the incident as highly unusual in wartime Kyiv.

The shooting took place in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district, a busy central area, where the attacker first opened fire outside an apartment building and nearby shopping centre before barricading himself inside a supermarket.

Bodies were seen lying on the street as bystanders fled, according to eyewitness accounts.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the assailant had taken hostages and killed multiple people during the attack.

“The assailant has been neutralised. 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,” Zelenskyy said.

Suspect’s background under probe

Local media named the perpetrator as Dmytro Vasylchenkov, a Ukrainian citizen who was born in Moscow.  He had also lived for a long period in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

Zelenskyy said the man had set fire to an apartment before launching the attack.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said special tactical police units stormed the supermarket after efforts to negotiate with the gunman failed.

“We tried to persuade him… We even offered to bring in tourniquets to stop the bleeding, but he did not respond,” Klymenko said. “Consequently, the order was given to neutralise him.”

During the roughly 40-minute standoff, negotiators repeatedly urged the attacker to release hostages, including over loudspeaker from behind an armoured vehicle.

Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, described the incident as an act of terrorism.

Officials said the gunman held a valid weapons permit, adding to concerns about how the attack unfolded.

Shock in wartime capital

Mass shootings are rare in Kyiv, particularly since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, making the incident especially shocking for residents already living under wartime conditions.

A local resident, Hanna Kulyk, said she recognised the attacker.

“He seemed like an educated, refined man… He lived alone and didn’t socialise much,” she said.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the motive behind the attack, including the suspect’s background and possible triggers.

The incident has raised fresh concerns about security and public safety in Ukraine’s capital amid the ongoing war.