Gunman kills 6 and injures several others in Kyiv shooting

KYIV, Ukraine - An unknown gunman killed six people and injured at least nine others in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Saturday before being shot dead by police special forces, authorities said.

Police shot and killed the man after he barricaded himself in a supermarket with hostages, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram. 

There were varying reports about how many had actually been hurt in the shooting. 

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said nine people were injured while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said as many as 14 were injured and that number could still rise.

The man had first fired at passers-by with a rapid-fire rifle in a southern district of Kyiv, according to media reports.

The Interior Ministry later clarified that the perpetrator had fired a semi-automatic rifle, for which he also held a firearms license.

When police pursued him, he fled into a supermarket, the reports stated.

Attempts to make contact with the 58-year-old man failed, Klymenko said. Police then stormed the store.

Attorney General Ruslan Kravchenko said that the perpetrator was a native of Moscow. However, according to media reports, he is said to hold Ukrainian citizenship and to have lived in the Donbas region for a long time.

Zelenskyy expressed his condolences to victims’ families in a video message and said police and the intelligence services were investigating the crime.

Ukraine has been defending itself for more than four years against a full-scale Russian invasion. As a result, the sale of weapons among the population has also increased significantly.

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This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 2:09 PM.