KYIV — Ukrainian police fatally shot a gunman who killed six people and injured at least 14 others in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Kyiv on Saturday, marking one of the deadliest such incidents in the country in recent years. Authorities said the attack began on the street outside the supermarket before the suspect barricaded himself inside the store and took several people hostage.

Officials identified the attacker as a 58-year-old man originally from Moscow, who had been living in Kyiv but previously resided in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Authorities withheld his name and have not released a motive, but Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko, indicated the incident is being investigated as a terrorist act.

According to official statements, the gunman first opened fire on the street, killing four individuals, before retreating into the supermarket where he shot and killed another person. One of the wounded succumbed to injuries later at a hospital. Police stormed the supermarket following failed negotiations and killed the attacker during the operation, rescuing four hostages.

The Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko, reported that the gunman was armed with a legally registered rifle. Witnesses described hearing gunfire and screams during the attack, with some hostages hiding in the store until security forces intervened.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the gunman had set fire to his apartment before initiating the shooting spree. Evidence of the violence remained visible throughout the area Saturday evening, including bloodstains on sidewalks near the scene.

The incident has raised concerns about increased risks of mass violence amid ongoing conflict. Analysts and residents have suggested that the war with Russia, now in its twelfth year in some regions, has exacerbated societal trauma and increased the circulation of firearms among civilians. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have acquired weapons since the conflict began, while prolonged exposure to violence has taken a psychological toll on the population.

While organized attacks outside of combat zones have been relatively rare, Ukraine has seen politically motivated killings in recent years, including the fatal shootings of two former parliamentarians in Lviv in 2024 and 2025. Additionally, a Ukrainian draft officer was stabbed to death earlier this month amid a series of violent incidents targeting conscription officials. However, investigators noted that Saturday’s shooting appeared indiscriminate, with victims targeted at random rather than for political reasons.

Neighbors described the gunman as a reserved individual who rarely engaged with others in the apartment building where he had lived for about a decade. Some reported hearing the initial gunfire and seeing smoke billowing from the residence before the attack began.

Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting and the attacker’s motives as Kyiv assesses the broader implications of the incident amid an already volatile security environment.