Chief of Ukraine's National Police reports details about Kyiv shooting terrorist

Dmytro Vasylchenkov, who carried out the terrorist attack in Kyiv on 18 April and was subsequently killed, served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine from 1992 and retired in 2005; he also had domestic disputes with neighbours.

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

Quote: "He is a native of Moscow, but he served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine from 1992, primarily in Odesa Oblast, in the motor transport troops. He retired in 2005. After that he travelled to Russia and returned in 2017 and lived in Bakhmut."

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

"He had such negative views there... One cannot say his position was pro-Ukrainian. It was somewhat, apparently, in the wrong direction," Vyhivskyi commented.

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

"We have looked into all the calls he made and related incidents, which were mostly domestic disputes," he said. "And yesterday there was a post on Telegram channels that he had previously been held accountable for inflicting minor bodily injuries; however, 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 for revoking his weapons permits."

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

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

"A call came in at 16:32 reporting a conflict on the street between citizens. Police officers initially arrived simply to deal with a domestic dispute. And when the call came in, he had a rubber-bullet pistol on him and fired shots at a neighbour with whom he had a conflict... After which he ran into his flat, took the weapon he later used to go to the supermarket, and set the flat on fire, dousing it with liquid," he stated.

When asked whether the 11-year-old boy injured in the 18 April shooting had been hit specifically by a rubber-bullet pistol, Vyhivskyi said: "Most likely, yes."

Vyhivskyi reported that approximately 10 minutes passed from the moment the terrorist went out with the weapon until he entered the supermarket. Negotiations with him subsequently lasted longer and he did not put forward any specific demands.

The police chief did not name the terrorist, but as Ukrainska Pravda 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 remain in hospital. Among them is a child whose condition is assessed as stable and moderate. At least six people were killed as a result of the terrorist attack.

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