Ukrainian special forces fatally shot a 57-year-old gunman after he killed at least seven people and took hostages inside a Kyiv supermarket on April 18, 2026, in an attack authorities are investigating as an act of terrorism.
The attacker, Dmytro Vasyliovych Vasylchenkov, was born in Moscow and lived extensively in the Donetsk region, parts of which have been under Russian occupation since 2014. He served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine from 1992 to 2005 before settling in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district.
The rampage began when Vasylchenkov opened fire outside an apartment block in the busy neighborhood. Four victims died on the street during the initial assault. The gunman then seized customers and staff inside a nearby Walmart supermarket, where he killed a sixth person—one of the hostages—during a 40-minute standoff. A woman in her 30s died from her injuries in the hospital, while a seventh victim, a man in critical condition, succumbed on April 20.
Fourteen people sustained injuries during the attack, including a 12-year-old boy who lost both his father and aunt. A 4-month-old infant suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from a fire Vasylchenkov set in his apartment before starting the shooting spree. The baby’s mother was also wounded. Seven people remained hospitalized as of April 22, including four adults in intensive care and one child.
“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,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video posted online before the seventh victim passed away.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, wearing body armor at the scene, said police negotiators attempted to reason with the shooter for about 40 minutes while he held people captive. A female negotiator in body armor used a loudspeaker from behind an armored vehicle, pleading with the gunman to release the hostages. The attacker, described as “acting chaotically,” made no demands during the standoff.
Tactical units received orders to storm the building after negotiations failed and the shooter killed a hostage. Four hostages were freed after police fatally shot the gunman while he resisted arrest.
The violence unfolded in daylight on a crowded street, leaving bodies covered with emergency blankets as bystanders fled. An Associated Press reporter at the scene witnessed the aftermath before the victims were removed. Televised footage showed police taking cover inside the shopping mall that housed the supermarket while shots rang out.
The incident exposed apparent failures in the police response. Video footage emerged showing two officers running away as shots rang out, prompting Yevhen Zhukov, head of the Patrol Police Department, to announce his resignation. He called the officers’ conduct “unprofessional” and “unworthy of police officers.” On April 20, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko announced the two officers had been formally charged with official negligence, a charge that could carry up to five years in prison. The images stood in sharp contrast to the tactical units that ultimately ended the siege.
Authorities said the attacker used a legally registered carbine in the assault. In December 2025, he had approached licensing authorities to have the weapon test-fired as his permit neared expiration, submitting the required medical certificate and application for renewal. Investigators are now working to determine which medical institution issued that certificate and examining the circumstances surrounding how the permit was granted.
Vasylchenkov had a prior criminal record, though officials did not elaborate on the nature of those offenses. Before beginning his shooting spree, the man set fire to his apartment. Neighbors in his apartment block described him as solitary and unremarkable.
“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 resident of the same building. “He didn’t socialize much with people—just a greeting, and he’d be on his way. He lived alone.”
The 12-year-old boy is being treated for gunshot wounds sustained in the attack.
The shooting stunned residents of a city that, while frequently targeted by Russian aerial attacks during the ongoing war, rarely experiences this type of violence. Mass shootings remain uncommon in Ukraine, making the April 18 events particularly jarring for Kyiv’s wartime population.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed the death toll and location. President Zelensky pledged a thorough investigation into both the attack and the circumstances that allowed a man with a criminal record to obtain and maintain a weapon permit. The incident has raised uncomfortable questions about licensing procedures and oversight in a nation already stretched thin by more than four years of full-scale war.
As investigators sift through evidence from the burned apartment and interview witnesses, Kyiv residents are left grappling with a new form of violence in their embattled capital—one that came not from Russian missiles, but from a gunman on their streets.