A mass shooting and hostage incident in a neighbourhood of Kyiv is being investigated as a “terrorist act”, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The incident left five people dead and at least ten others injured, officials said.
The SBU said in a statement published on Telegram that the armed attack and the taking of hostages in the Ukrainian capital are being examined under terrorism-related provisions.
Details of the attack
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said the suspected gunman was identified as a 58-year-old man from Moscow. According to the prosecutor, the attacker killed four people on the street with an automatic weapon and another inside a supermarket.
Kravchenko also reported that a fire broke out in the Kyiv apartment where the suspect had stated he lived.
Casualties and hospitalisations
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, citing Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, said in a Telegram post that five people were killed in the Holosiivskyi district of the capital and ten others were hospitalised.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko later reported that one of the injured victims, a woman, died in hospital, increasing the number of fatalities.
Suspect neutralised during arrest
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a statement on Telegram that the suspect was neutralised during the arrest operation.
According to the minister, special forces of the national police entered the store where the suspect was located after he had taken hostages. The gunman opened fire on a police officer during the operation, while negotiators had previously attempted to establish contact with him.
Source: ANA-MPA