A 58-year-old gunman opened fire on a Kyiv street on Saturday, killing six people and wounding 14 others before being shot dead by police after a 40-minute standoff inside a supermarket.
The attack began when the assailant, identified by local media as Dmytro Vasylchenkov, set fire to his fifth-floor apartment in the Holosiivskyi district, sending thick smoke into the air before emerging onto the street and firing indiscriminately at passersby. He then proceeded toward a busy boulevard and shopping mall, where he took hostages and executed one of them before police intervened.
Ukrainian authorities said the gunman was a Ukrainian citizen born in Moscow who had previously lived in Ryazan and resided for years in Bakhmut, a city in the Donetsk region that Russia captured in 2023. Investigators noted he had a criminal record and had posted anti-Ukrainian and antisemitic content online, including expressions of admiration for Hitler’s methods and regret that Russia’s seizure of Bakhmut had not occurred sooner.
According to a leaked Russian database referenced in the investigation, Vasylchenkov maintained multiple Russian bank accounts until at least 2021 and retained a Russian phone number, having travelled to Russia several times in 2016. However, officials said it remains unclear whether he had direct contact with Russian state actors or was acting independently.
The incident has prompted scrutiny of Ukraine’s internal security, particularly after video circulated online showing patrol police officers fleeing the scene of the gunfire, leaving civilians without immediate assistance. Yevhen Zhukov, head of Ukraine’s Patrol Police, resigned on Sunday, stating the officers had acted “unprofessionally and disgracefully” and failed to assess the situation properly.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko condemned the officers’ conduct as “a disgrace to the entire system,” confirming an investigation had been launched into their actions and potential accountability for their superiors. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said eight people, including a 12-year-old boy, remained hospitalized following the attack.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the nation in his nightly video message, calling the attack “tragic” and confirming that security services were working to establish whether it was directed by Moscow. He noted that while such shootings are extremely rare in Ukraine, Kremlin operatives have recruited over 800 Ukrainians in the past two years to carry out attacks on infrastructure and draft offices, aiming to spread fear and uncertainty.
A paramedic at the scene, Tymofii Solovei, told reporters: “Either he is insane or Here’s a Russian terrorist attack. We don’t know how long he was preparing this. He may have been communicating with someone from Russia.” A student eyewitness, Tymofii Sergiichuk, said the event had shaken public confidence: “We have pretty good security in Kyiv and there’s been nothing like this since the beginning of the war. This has scared them more.”
Was the attacker acting under direct orders from Russia?
Investigators are examining whether the attack was directed by Moscow, but as of now, there is no confirmed evidence of direct contact between the gunman and Russian state operatives.
Why did the patrol police resign after the incident?
The head of Ukraine’s Patrol Police resigned after video showed officers fleeing the scene of the gunfire, which he described as a failure to protect civilians and a disgrace to the police force.
