The terrorist attack in Kyiv on April 18, which killed six people, began with a domestic quarrel — the shooter fired a traumatic pistol at a neighbor, then returned home, took a rifle and set fire to his apartment.
This was stated by the head of the National Police Ivan Vyhivskyi at a briefing on April 19.
According to him, the police responded to a call about a conflict between citizens on the street. But on the way, they were informed that there was a shooter there.
Arriving at the scene, the patrol officers heard gunshots, left the car near the house, and ran to the entrance. There was a child, a woman, and a man lying there. The policewoman approached the child, who had a head injury, and was about to return to the car for a first aid kit.
Then shots rang out, and the police officers ran to their patrol car. The moment was captured on camera, and the video went viral on social media.
According to Vyhivskyi, the patrol officers were supposed to fire a warning shot upwards or use their weapons in case of a threat, but this did not happen. The head of the patrol police Yevhenii Zhukov, who has already resigned, added that the police officers did not orient themselves in time and left the wounded civilians in danger. He called their action “very shameful”.
Two police officers have already been suspended from duty. One of them has been working in the police since 2024, and his colleague since 2015. The State Bureau of Investigation has opened a criminal case into the actions of the police officers on suspicion of official negligence, which led to serious consequences. They face 2 to 5 years in prison.
Shooting in Kyiv on April 18
On the afternoon of April 18, a man opened fire on passersby in the Holosiivsky district of Kyiv, then barricaded himself in a supermarket and took visitors hostage. Law enforcement officers negotiated with him for 40 minutes, but when he killed one of the hostages, they launched an assault and eliminated the attacker.
The attack killed six people and injured 14 others. The shooterʼs motives are still unknown, and he made no demands.
As it turned out later, the shooter is a native of Moscow, previously lived in the Donetsk region for a long time. He has already been brought to criminal responsibility. The weapon from which the attacker fired is a registered carbine. In December 2025, he brought it to the licensing system and wrote an application for the continuation of using this weapon. At the same time, he provided a certificate of his mental state. The investigation will establish who issued him this document.
Law enforcement officers have initiated criminal proceedings under the article about a terrorist act that led to the death of people.
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