Ukraine's national police chief discloses details about terrorist who carried out Kyiv shooting

Apr 19, 2026 - 17:10

It has emerged that Dmytro Vasylchenkov, the shooter who carried out the terrorist attack in Kyiv on 18 April and was subsequently killed, served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine from 1992 to 2005, when he retired, and that he also had disputes with neighbours.

Source: Ivan Vyhivskyi, Head of the National Police of Ukraine, at a briefing

Quote from Vyhivskyi: "He was born in Moscow, but he served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine from 1992 onwards, primarily in Odesa Oblast, in the motor transport troops. He retired in 2005. After that he went to Russia, and in 2017 he returned and lived in Bakhmut."

Details: Vyhivskyi said investigators have examined Vasylchenkov's social media.

"He [expressed] such negative views there... His position cannot be said to have been pro-Ukrainian. It was apparently somewhat in the wrong direction," Vyhivskyi commented.

Vyhivskyi added that neighbours have described the terrorist as "a secretive person" who lived alone. The man had also "quarrelled with various neighbours".

"We have looked into all the calls he made and related incidents, which were mostly neighbour disputes," he said. "And yesterday there was a post on Telegram that said he was prosecuted for minor bodily harm, but in court he reconciled under the law, which is grounds for closing such criminal proceedings. And these are effectively exonerating grounds – they are not grounds to revoke his weapons permits."

Asked whether Vasylchenkov could have been a Russian agent, Vyhivskyi said the Security Service of Ukraine will be looking into this question: "That is also possible."

The police chief also outlined the chronology of the events of 18 April.

"A call came in at 16:32 reporting a conflict in the street between citizens. Police officers initially arrived thinking they would be dealing with a neighbour dispute. And when the call came in, he had a rubber-bullet pistol on him and was firing shots at a neighbour he was in conflict with... After that he ran into his apartment, grabbed the weapon he later took to the supermarket, and set fire to the apartment, dousing it with liquid," Vyhivskyi stated.

Asked whether the 11-year-old boy who was injured in the shooting had been hit by a rubber bullet from the pistol, Vyhivskyi said: "Most likely, yes."

Vyhivskyi said that approximately 10 minutes passed from the terrorist leaving with the weapon to the moment he entered the supermarket. The subsequent negotiations with him lasted longer, and he did not make any specific demands.

The police chief did not name the terrorist, but as Ukrainska Pravda has reported, his name is Dmytro Vasylchenkov.

Background:

On 18 April, a man opened fire in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district, killing and injuring people. Police conducted a special operation to detain the attacker.
The man who carried out the fatal shooting was later killed during the operation to arrest him.
According to Ukrainska Pravda sources, his name was Dmytro Vasylchenkov and he was born on 21 April 1968 in Moscow. He held Ukrainian citizenship and had previously lived in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, before moving to Kyiv's Holosiivskyi district.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko confirmed that the shooter was a 58-year-old Moscow-born man.
Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the shooter used a registered weapon during the attack.
As of 19 April, eight people who were injured in the attack are still in hospital, including a child whose condition has been assessed as stable and moderate. At least six people were killed as a result of the terrorist attack.