Two officers suspended in Ukraine over claims they fled Kyiv shooting

KYIV – Ukraine’s Interior Minister said on April 19 that two police officers had been suspended after a video which was circulated online showed them fleeing the scene of a shooting in Kyiv in which six people were killed.

A gunman opened fire and took hostages at a supermarket in the Ukrainian capital’s residential district on April 18, before being killed during an arrest attempt.

In a video posted by the Ukrainian media, two police officers wearing uniforms and yellow vests are seen standing next to a person on the ground before fleeing the scene as gunshots ring out.

“Shameful, unworthy behaviour. This is a disgrace for the entire system. They have been suspended, and an investigation into this is under way,” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram.

Mr Klymenko also urged people not to “generalise about the entire police force based solely on the actions of two employees”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky weighed in, saying in his daily address that “there will be a full review of the patrol officers’ actions”.

They “were at the crime scene but did not stop the killer and fled themselves... They were supposed to act in those circumstances”, Mr Zelensky said.

Police have yet to ascertain the motive behind the shooting, but Mr Klymenko said the attacker’s “mental state was clearly unstable”.

“How he obtained the necessary medical certificates to extend his gun permit must be examined,” Mr Klymenko added.

Ukraine’s police chief Ivan Vygivsky told reporters that the suspect had served in the Ukrainian armed forces before retiring in 2005 and then lived in Russia until 2017.

“We checked his social media pages... His views there are negative. You can’t say he had a pro-Ukrainian stance; it was, let’s say, somewhat in the other direction,” Mr Vygivsky said.

He added that the suspect had no relatives and was described as “secretive” by neighbours.

Mr Klymenko said there would be no sweeping checks of gun owners who are legally bound to declare their weapons.

He vowed to hold “expert discussions with the participation of Members of Parliament, the public, journalists and the veteran community” on gun control laws.

Ukraine, which has been fending off Russia’s full-scale invasion since 2022, has seen sporadic shooting incidents but has a relatively low crime rate. AFP