A 58-year-old gunman opened fire in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district on Saturday, killing six people and wounding at least 14 others before barricading himself in a supermarket with hostages. Police killed the attacker during a 40-minute standoff, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
The mass shooting is exceptional in wartime Kyiv, which has faced constant Russian missile and drone attacks but has not seen this kind of gun violence unfolding inside its borders. Ukraine’s security service classified the killings as terrorism, signaling official concern about domestic instability amid the country’s ongoing conflict with Russia.
The gunman was born in Russia and had a prior criminal record, according to Zelenskyy. He set fire to an apartment before taking to the streets with an automatic weapon. The gunman held a valid weapons permit, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.
The Shooting
The shooting took place outside an apartment block and shopping center in a busy central district. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw victims’ bodies covered with emergency blankets before they were removed by emergency workers.
“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,” Zelenskyy said in a video posted online.
The Standoff
The gunman barricaded with supermarket customers and staff inside the convenience store. During the standoff, a female police officer wearing body armor and standing behind an armored vehicle used a loudspeaker to appeal to the attacker: “The people are not to blame for this. Please let them go, and we will talk with you.”
Klymenko said negotiators worked to persuade the gunman to surrender, offering medical assistance. “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.” Ukraine’s special tactical police units stormed the supermarket after the gunman refused contact with negotiators, Klymenko said.
The Gunman
Residents of the gunman’s apartment block said they recognized him as a quiet neighbor who kept to himself. “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, a neighbor. “He didn’t socialize much with people — just a greeting and he’d be on his way. He lived alone.”
Zelenskyy said the gunman had lived in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine for a long period.
Official Response
Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, described the killings as an act of terrorism. The classification signals official concern about domestic instability amid Russia’s ongoing attacks. Mass shootings have been rare in wartime Kyiv, where civilian deaths typically result from Russian weapons rather than gunfire within the city limits.