Gunman kills six in Kyiv shooting, takes hostages before police storm supermarket

Gunfire tore through Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district on Saturday as a gunman opened fire on civilians in the street, killed four people, then retreated into a nearby supermarket where he shot a fifth victim and took hostages. A sixth victim later died in hospital, bringing the death toll to six, while at least 10 others were hospitalized, including one child. Four hostages were rescued from the store.

Police said special tactical units moved in after negotiators spent about 40 minutes trying to persuade the attacker to release the hostages. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said officers even offered to bring tourniquets inside, apparently hoping to treat a wounded person and prevent more blood loss, but the gunman did not respond. Ukrainian police then stormed the supermarket, and the attacker was shot dead while resisting arrest.

Authorities identified the suspect as a 58-year-old man born in Moscow. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said an automatic weapon was used, and Klymenko said the gunman carried a legally registered carbine. He also said the man had approached licensing authorities in December 2025 to have the weapon test-fired as his permit was expiring, submitted a medical certificate and applied to renew the permit. Investigators are now expected to determine which medical institution issued that certificate.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered condolences to the victims’ families and ordered officials to make all verified information public while carrying out a swift investigation. The attack stood out as a rare mass shooting in Ukraine’s capital, but it also highlighted a wider reality for a country living with the effects of war: weapons are more common, emergency services are being tested by new kinds of violence, and police now must respond to domestic mass-casualty attacks alongside the security demands of wartime. The outcome in Holosiivskyi district showed both the reach of the threat and the speed required to end it.