On the morning of Saturday, April 18, a horrific shooting shook the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv, leaving multiple people dead and wounded. An unidentified armed man opened fire on pedestrians in the street before storming the local Velmart supermarket and taking hostages. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed the tragic events via his official Telegram channel, noting that a child and a supermarket security guard were among the critically injured. Shortly after the standoff began, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine announced the deployment of special tactical units, who successfully neutralized the attacker during an intense assault on the commercial building.
The deadly sequence of events started even before the assailant stepped outside. Police investigations revealed that the man had deliberately set his own apartment on fire. He then emerged onto the busy Holosiivskyi Avenue armed with a semi-automatic weapon and began firing indiscriminately at innocent passersby. Witnesses reported scenes of absolute panic as people scrambled for cover behind parked vehicles and nearby buildings. First responders and medics rushed to the chaotic scene, providing emergency medical aid to the bleeding victims right on the pavement. The severely injured child was immediately transported to a specialized pediatric clinic. Ultimately, the death toll from the street rampage and the subsequent standoff rose to at least five innocent people, with over a dozen others hospitalized.
Following the initial massacre on the street, the heavily armed attacker barged into the Velmart supermarket. Inside, he barricaded himself, trapping terrified shoppers and store employees as hostages. Law enforcement agencies, including the elite KORD special forces, quickly cordoned off the entire perimeter and initiated a large-scale anti-terrorist operation to secure the area and protect civilian lives.
The identity of the active shooter has since been established by intelligence services. He was identified as 58-year-old Dmytro Vasylchenkov, a Moscow-born individual who held Ukrainian citizenship and lived as a military pensioner. Having previously resided in the front-line city of Bakhmut, he moved to the capital following the outbreak of extensive hostilities. Open-source intelligence and police background checks uncovered his deep-seated pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian views. Vasylchenkov reportedly justified the actions of Russian invaders, supported radical ideologies, and even made direct financial donations to the Russian occupation forces.
Internal Affairs Minister Ihor Klymenko stated that professional police negotiators spent nearly 40 minutes trying to persuade the terrorist to surrender and release the captive citizens peacefully. However, the attacker refused to comply and instead opened fire on the police perimeter. Left with no other viable options to save the hostages, the KORD tactical unit aggressively stormed the supermarket. The rapid and decisive operation resulted in the immediate liquidation of the active shooter. Fortunately, all the hostages held inside were rescued and safely evacuated from the premises.
This unprecedented terrorist act in the heart of Ukraine’s capital has prompted a swift reaction from state leadership. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims, calling the brutal incident a massive tragedy that demands a thorough and rigorous investigation. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the National Police are now meticulously examining all evidence to determine if the attacker had external accomplices or direct ties to Russian intelligence networks.