A mass shooting took place in the Ukrainian capital Kiev Monday. A 58-year-old man opened fire on people in the streets of Kiev before entering a supermarket and taking hostages before being shot dead by police. In addition to the gunman, six people were killed and more than a dozen injured. The National Security Service of Ukraine has classified the mass shooting and hostage-taking incident against civilians as a terrorist attack and is currently investigating, according to the Ukraine news agency. The BBC and other media have pointed out that Ukrainian citizens can legally carry guns, but mass shootings are rare in the country. Since the outbreak of the Russian-ukrainian conflict in 2022, some Ukrainian cities have been subjected to frequent air strikes, but shootings on the ground have been rare. The man’s motive is unclear. Ukrainian president Zelensky said 18, the man is a Ukrainian citizen born in Moscow, had lived in the eastern region of Donetsk, “A very long time.”. Russian media said that Ukraine deliberately linked the gunman and Russia, but deliberately ignored the fact that he had served in the Ukrainian army for many years.
Six people were killed and more than 10 injured in a mass shooting in the Ukrainian capital Kiev Monday. Ukrainian police at the scene.
Sparking debate on civilian gun ownership
According to the current information, the suspect is Dmitry Vasilychenko, a man born in 1968, the UK’s guardian reported. On the afternoon of the 18th, local time, he first set fire to his apartment, and then went into the street to shoot people. The fire killed a 4-month-old baby from carbon monoxide poisoning who lived next door to the gunman’s apartment.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, said 18 Klimenko, gunmen took to the streets, shot people at close range, “So people almost no chance of survival.”. The gunman then entered a supermarket and locked the door, taking hostages. Police launched a raid on the supermarket, gunmen killed a hostage and opened fire on police, and was killed. Klimenko said the gunman was found to be in possession of a registered shotgun and a medical certificate authorizing its use. Prosecutors are investigating which medical facility issued the certificate.
“The Kiev Independent” said this is the most serious shooting in Ukraine in recent years, re-opened the debate on civilian gun ownership, the issue has always been a serious public opinion gap. Arms Control in Ukraine is regulated by a combination of parliamentary resolutions, directives of the Ministry of the Interior and the penal code, but relevant legislation has been stalled in Parliament for many years. Klimenko 18 was asked about this issue, said“This is not the topic of discussion today.”.
According to Ukrainian News Agency reports, the National Security Service of Ukraine issued a statement on the evening of 18, the shooting as a“Terrorist attack.”. Zelensky said in a video address the same day, the attacker was born in Russia, had long lived in the Donetsk region, and had a criminal record. He said that the police and security authorities are investigating the motive behind this tragic attack, and investigators are exploring several possibilities, electronic devices, mobile phones and communications records held by the attackers will be scrutinised.
According to a report by the RBC-ukraine News Agency, a video posted on the Internet by a witness shows that during the shooting, police on patrol fled the scene after hearing gunshots, putting civilians, including a child, at risk. Ukrainian procurator-general Kravchenko said on the 19th, prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into police misconduct.
Russian media refuted the allegations
Many media reports say there are few shootings in Kiev or even across Ukraine. “It shocked me,” The Guardian quoted a Ukrainian student as saying in an interview. “Even since the war began, nothing like this has ever happened in Kiev, and now people are scared.”
Ukrainian“State” 18 reported that Vasilychenko was a Ukrainian soldier, he was in the Donetsk region before 2004,254 motorised infantry division logistics battalion service, and then retired into the reserve. Since 2022, he has served in the Ukrainian army again.
Russia, “Moscow Communist Youth League newspaper,” 19, said the attack immediately after the Ukrainian side launched a search“Behind the Kremlin” campaign. Some media and officials were eager to link the identity of the gunman to his origin, emphasizing that he was allegedly a“Donbas regional immigrant” but was in fact a“Muscovite”, but the fact that the attacker had served in the Ukrainian army for many years was studiously ignored. Some media even published a false report claiming that the attacker was a Russian lieutenant colonel, but later denied this claim.
Reported that this attempt to portray the incident as“Behind the Kremlin,” the practice has not had an impact on Ukrainian people. On social media, the incident was hotly debated in Kiev, where it was described as“A ticking time bomb” created by the Ukrainian authorities’ inadequate monitoring of the mental state and past of former soldiers.
Ukraine’s gun boom’
According to an article in the New York Times, the most high-profile shootings in Ukraine in recent years appear to have been political: two former Ukrainian parliamentarians were shot dead on the streets of the western city of Lviv in 2024 and 2025. This month, a Ukrainian recruitment officer was stabbed to death during a document check in Lviv, the latest in a series of violent attacks on street recruiters. In contrast, 18 occurred in the shooting incident with the characteristics of mass shootings, victims were randomly selected.
US media believe that the number of guns in Ukraine has soared since the start of the conflict. In the past four years, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have learned to use guns and many more have been traumatized by the war. “This has raised concerns that Ukraine, which has long been spared the kind of mass shootings common in the US, may now be more prone to such incidents.”
Affected by the situation in the Middle East and other factors, the U. S.-russia-ukraine trilateral talks on the issue of Ukraine have reached an impasse. According to Ukraine, “State network” reported on the 19th, chief of Presidential Office Budanov told the media, in the long-term continuation of the war, Ukraine in the conscription problems are reasonable. Although the situation is“Very difficult”, it is still under control. Ukraine has been“Completing the minimum mobilisation plan” for the past six months. He also pointed out that the front is now in a“Frozen” state, although both Ukraine and Russia have tactical operations, but these operations have no impact on the situation.