Ukrainian special forces fatally shot a gunman on April 18, 2026, after he killed at least seven people in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district and took hostages inside a Walmart supermarket during a 40-minute standoff that authorities are investigating as an act of terrorism.
Dmytro Vasyliovych Vasylchenkov, 57, began his rampage by setting fire to his apartment before opening fire on the street outside an apartment block, then seizing customers and staff in the nearby supermarket. The Ukrainian citizen, born in Moscow and a veteran of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from 1992 to 2005, had settled in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district.
Police negotiators spent approximately 40 minutes attempting to communicate with Vasylchenkov while he held people captive inside the store, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said at the scene while wearing body armor. 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 moved in after the shooter killed a hostage inside the supermarket, fatally shooting him while he resisted arrest and freeing four hostages.
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in a video posted online that four victims died on the street, a woman in her 30s died from injuries sustained in the hospital, and the gunman killed a sixth person—one of the hostages—inside the supermarket. A seventh victim, a man in critical condition, died in the hospital on April 20.
“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,” Zelensky said in the video before the seventh victim passed away.
Fourteen people were injured in the assault, including a 12-year-old boy whose father and aunt were among those killed. The boy is being treated for gunshot wounds. A 4-month-old infant suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from the fire Vasylchenkov set in his apartment, and the baby’s mother was also wounded. As of April 22, seven people remained hospitalized, including four adults in intensive care and one child.
The attacker used a legally registered carbine in the shooting. 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.
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.
Vasylchenkov had a prior criminal record, though officials did not elaborate on the nature of those offenses. 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 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.
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.
Ukraine’s Security Service and Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko are treating the incident as an act of terrorism. Investigators continue working to establish the shooter’s motive, though authorities noted his background raised questions. Born in Russia and having lived extensively in the Donetsk region—partly under Russian occupation since 2014—the attacker’s history is under intense scrutiny.
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.
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.