The Russian media reacted in a coordinated manner to 2026. April 18 The terrorist attack in Kyiv that killed seven people and used this event to spread a new wave of disinformation.
One of the first false claims announced that the man who shot people in the store and took hostages was allegedly a “shooter of the Ukrainian Armed Forces” who had allegedly been “forcefully mobilized” just a few days earlier.
Later, when the identity of the suspect was revealed, propaganda channels changed the narrative. It has been claimed that the attack is the result of the actions of the “Kyiv regime” and “forced mobilization”, as well as escalating claims that this indicates a possible collapse of the security situation and “imminent carnage” in the capital.
Police in Kyiv / Yevhen Kotenko/Ukrinform/SIPA / Yevhen Kotenko/Ukrinform/SIPA
what happened
After an armed assailant opened fire in a residential area in Kyiv and took hostages in a shopping mall, 7 people died.
News agencies In a video published by UNIAN a gunman can be seen shooting at a person at close range near an apartment building.
Later, the suspect entered the shopping center, where shots were fired, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klychko said on Saturday.
In a statement on social media, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenka said special tactical police units stormed the store after failing to contact the gunman through a negotiator. According to the minister, the attacker was killed while resisting arrest.
Screenshot / Dmitry Vasilchenkov, who organized the shooting in Kyiv
Speaking to reporters, I. Klymenka saidthat the attacker killed four passers-by in the street and killed a fifth person before entering the mall. V. Klyčko said that the sixth victim, a young woman, died of her injuries in the hospital.
Reported laterthat on April 20 another injured person died in the hospital.
I. Klymenka said that the suspect “took people hostage and shot at police officers during the arrest”.
The police have not yet determined the motive for the shootings, but I. Klymenka said that the attacker’s “mental state was clearly unstable.”
“It is necessary to investigate how he obtained the necessary medical certificates for the extension of the weapon permit,” added I. Klymenka.
The man who opened fire in Kyiv’s Holosiyivsky district was born in Moscow and had Ukrainian citizenship, Ukrainska Pravda reportedbased on his sources. Later this information Confirmed on the Telegram channel Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.
Ukraine, which has been battling a full-scale Russian invasion since 2022, has seen isolated shooting incidents, but the country’s crime rate is relatively low.
Life in Russia is also included in the biography
Reportedthat his name is Dmitry Vasilevich Vasilchenkov. He was born on April 21, 1968.
“He used to live in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, then in Holosiyivsky district of Kyiv,” the media say.
Journalist Vitalijs Glagola announced additional information about the killer.
“This is a former Ukrainian soldier who served in the Donetsk region until 2004. The place of service is the 254th motorized rifle division, logistics battalion. He later left the service and continued to serve in the Ukrainian army after 2022,” – wrote V. Glagola in your Telegram account.
Propaganda wave
Russian propaganda cynically exploited this tragedy in the Ukrainian capital to spread with renewed vigor the previously disseminated disinformation narratives about Ukrainian soldiers.
It is claimed that the Ukrainian army is made up of veterans with mental disorders, that the Territorial Military Recruitment Centers (TMCs) mobilize anyone, and that the attack itself is allegedly the result of the “Kyiv regime” and “Bandera Russophobia”.
However, these claims do not correspond to the facts. The man who killed seven people is unjustifiably called a “shooter of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, and the claims that he was recently mobilized and angry that he had to go to defend the country, carried out the attack are also untrue.
Head of the National Police of Ukraine, Ivan Vyhovskii, on April 19. clarified during the press conferencethat D. Vasilchenkov served in the army since 1992, mainly in the Odesa region, and left the reserve in 2005. He later went to Russia, and returned to Ukraine only in 2017 – he lived in Bakhmut and later in Kyiv.
Screenshot / Dmitry Vasilchenkov, who organized the shooting in Kyiv
The weapon is personal
It is not true that the shooter was given the weapon with which the crime was committed by the TCK during his mobilization.
The Minister of the Interior I. Klimenko confirmed that the shooter used a legally registered civilian carbine, the permit of which was extended in 2025. in December after submitting a Form 127-O Medical Certificate of Mental Condition.
The researchers said they were checking separatelywho issued this certificate, as well as the medical institution and the circumstances of granting the permit.
So, the weapon has nothing to do with mobilization or the provision of the army – it is a civilian self-defense weapon.
There were pro-Russian views
The Russian media also hides an important fact: in 2016-2019. on social networks, D. Vasilchenkov publicly denied Ukraine’s statehood, called the country “the so-called Ukraine” and wrote its name in lower case, and also expressed support for the Russian fighter To Igor Girkin, in charge for the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine.
D. Vasilchenkov also published anti-Semitic statements, praised “Hitler’s methods” and demonstrated clearly pro-Russian radical views, and called himself a general of the Russian army.
It is also kept silent that he was constantly in conflict with those around him. The attack began with a domestic conflict – it has already been established that the shooter attacked the neighbor first.
“The call was received at 4:32 p.m. – a conflict between residents was reported on the street. At first, the officers responded as a domestic dispute. At the time, the man had a traumatic pistol with him and shot it in the direction of the neighbor with whom he had a conflict. Later, he ran to his apartment, took another gun with which he went to the shopping center, and set the apartment itself on fire, dousing it with flammable liquid,” – commented Head of the National Police of Ukraine, Ivan Vyhovski.
Currently The General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine has started a pre-trial investigation for a possible terrorist act. The motives of the crime are still being determined, and the possible connection with the Russian special services is being checked by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
Screenshot / Dmitry Vasilchenkov, who organized the shooting in Kyiv
15min verdict: lie. Claims that the man who shot in Kyiv was a recently mobilized Ukrainian soldier and that the attack was the result of “forced mobilization” do not correspond to the facts. Official data shows that the suspect used a legally purchased civilian weapon and was not recently mobilized.
The publication was prepared in 15 minutes in partnership with Metawhich aims to stop the spread of misleading news on the social network. More about the program and its rules – here.
