The death toll from a brutal shooting in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district has tragically risen to six. The updated casualty figures were officially confirmed by Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko in a statement on his Telegram channel. Simultaneously, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General’s Office released details regarding the identity of the shooter, confirming that the attacker was a 58-year-old Moscow native who was liquidated by special forces during a police assault.
According to the latest reports from medical personnel, a woman in her early thirties succumbed to her injuries in the intensive care unit. She was among the ten critically injured individuals hospitalized immediately following the horrific attack. Her identity is currently being established by authorities. In addition to those hospitalized, paramedics provided on-site emergency treatment to six other victims. Among them was a four-month-old infant who suffered from severe carbon monoxide poisoning. The baby inhaled toxic smoke in an apartment adjacent to the one set ablaze by the shooter just moments before his deadly rampage began. Fortunately, the child’s parents declined hospitalization, as the infant’s life was no longer in imminent danger.
The sequence of events highlights the extreme danger and ruthlessness of the situation. The assailant initiated his attack by intentionally setting his own apartment on fire. Armed with an automatic weapon, he then took to the streets, firing indiscriminately at pedestrians and local residents who crossed his path. He eventually forced his way into the Velmart supermarket on Holosiivskyi Avenue, where he barricaded himself and took multiple hostages. The area was immediately locked down by the police, and trained negotiators attempted to establish contact with the gunman to prevent further bloodshed.
Law enforcement agencies identified the suspect as Dmitry Vasilchenkov, born on April 21, 1968, in Moscow. Despite his Russian origins, he held Ukrainian citizenship. Background checks revealed that he had previously resided in the front-line city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region before relocating to Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district. The exact motives behind this devastating attack remain under intense investigation, with authorities exploring all possibilities, ranging from a severe psychological breakdown to deliberate sabotage and terrorism, given his background and access to military-grade weaponry.
When negotiations failed and the gunman continued to exhibit extreme aggression, the elite KORD (Rapid Operational Response Unit) special forces initiated a tactical breach of the supermarket. The suspect opened fire on the responding officers during the raid and was consequently neutralized on the spot, effectively ending the hostage crisis.
This devastating incident raises critical concerns about public safety, civilian psychological resilience, and illegal weapons circulation during wartime. The psychological toll of the ongoing conflict, combined with the potential availability of illicit firearms, poses a significant and complex challenge for internal security forces. As forensic teams continue to meticulously gather evidence at the burned apartment and the heavily damaged supermarket, the city of Kyiv mourns the loss of innocent lives, and authorities pledge a thorough investigation to uncover the full scope of this tragic event.