3 min readApr 19, 2026 10:11 AM IST
A man opened fire in Ukraine’s Kyiv on Saturday, killing six and wounding several others, Ukrainian officials told BBC.
The incident took place in the southern Holosiivskyi district when the attacker, a local resident, according to Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, began firing at pedestrians before taking hostages in a nearby supermarket.
Following the shootout with police, the attacker was killed in the supermarket, Klymenko told BBC.
He said that the police spoke to the shooter for 40 minutes while he was in the supermarket, with officials describing him as someone “acting chaotically”.
“We tried to persuade him, realising that there was an injured person there,” Klymenko explained, according to the BBC report. “We offered to bring in tourniquets to stop the bleeding and so on. But he did not respond, so the order was given to eliminate him, especially after he killed one of the hostages.”
Investigators from the National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine are now examining all the circumstances of the attack in Kyiv against ordinary civilians.
The attacker was eliminated. He took hostages and, tragically, killed one of them. He shot dead four more people… pic.twitter.com/qIpvjzJ04V
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 18, 2026
Police investigating circumstances of the attack
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the investigators from the National Police and the Security Service were examining the circumstances of the attack against civilians.
He said that the incident injured 14, including a 12-year-old boy, with officials warning the number may rise as more continue to seek medical help.
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“The attacker was eliminated. He took hostages and, tragically, killed one of them. He shot dead four more people right on the street, and one more woman passed away in a hospital due to sustained injuries. My condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims,” Zelenskyy wrote over a post on X.
Attacker born in Russia
Long residing in the Donetsk region, the attacker, with past criminal record, was born in Russia, Zelenskyy stated.
The Ukrainian leader also stated that the gunman set fire to an apartment before venturing into the street armed.
“It has been established that the attacker set fire to an apartment before going out onto the street with a weapon. He had previously been prosecuted for criminal offences. He had long resided in the Donetsk region and was born in Russia,” Zelenskyy said.
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“All available information about him and the motives behind his actions is being thoroughly investigated. Every detail must be verified,” he added.
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