A man murdered six people in Kyiv this Saturday. Videos filmed by neighbors and security cameras show how Dmytro Vasilchenkov, 58, ran through the streets of his neighborhood in the Ukrainian capital, shooting people he encountered at point-blank range. After murdering five passersby with his hunting carbine, he locked himself in a supermarket and killed a sixth victim. When he did not respond to police messages, law enforcement officers entered the establishment by force and ended his life.
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In addition to the six deceased, Vasilchenkov’s shots also caused a dozen injuries, including a 12-year-old minor. The incident is being investigated as a potential terrorist act, according to the Ministry of Interior. It is not uncommon for “terrorist acts” to occur in Ukraine during the war, violent actions that are not part of military operations. Many of these cases are investigated as actions financed and organized by Russian secret services to provoke chaos among the population; others are classified as possible terrorist actions without Russia or any organization being behind them.
It remains to be seen what motives led Vasilchenkov to this death spree. The published videos show an unstable man who does not respond to logical behavior, according to the National Police. He neither made demands nor published any message to justify what happened. The killer was born in Moscow in 1968 and was a retired military man, in the reserve of the Ukrainian army. That he was born in Russia is not strange: hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have their birthplace throughout the former Soviet Union.
Vitali Glagola, a star journalist in Ukraine, reported on his Telegram channel that Vasilchenkov was pro-Russian and had published messages in favor of Russia on social media, as well as messages of hatred against the Jewish people and in favor of Adolf Hitler. The city where he spent most years of his life was Bakhmut, in the Donetsk province, a town now devastated by the war and under the control of Russian troops.
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The Security Services of Ukraine (SSU) must clarify whether Vasilchenkov acted alone or if he was following orders from Russia. “We need to analyze every detail. The investigation has several hypotheses on the table. All his electronic devices, phone, and all his communications will be reviewed,” said Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, on his social networks. The president confirmed that the suspect had caused a fire in his home before going out into the street and starting his lethal rampage; he also stated that Vasilchenkov had a police record.
Ukrainian television news program TSN broadcast images of the suspect already behaving violently in 2023, in an establishment near his home and the supermarket where he locked himself this Saturday until the police killed him.
