Kyiv, 19 April (H.S.):

A heavily armed assailant unleashed terror on Ukraine’s capital on Saturday, spraying bullets indiscriminately on a street before storming a supermarket, taking hostages, and sparking a tense standoff that left five dead and 15 injured.

The attacker, wielding an automatic weapon, gunned down four people on a road in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district before barricading himself inside the store, where he executed one hostage in defiance. For nearly an hour, he evaded police, but elite forces from the National Police’s rapid response unit neutralized him during a daring rescue, freeing all captives unharmed.

Ukraine’s Attorney General Ruslan Kravchenko, citing CNN reports, confirmed the gunman—a 58-year-old Moscow native—had resided for years in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Investigators are probing the incident as a potential terrorist act, meticulously unraveling the motive and circumstances behind the bloodshed.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported nine of the wounded remain hospitalized, with six discharged after initial treatment. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko detailed the high-stakes operation, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed exhaustive inquiries into the shooter’s background, noting vigilantes torched his registered apartment around the time of the attack.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar