Ukrainian soldier, 21, kills five in Kalashnikov rampage at military factory before being arrested as cops probe motive with country teetering on brink of war with Russia
- Artem Ryabchuk shot dead four servicemen and one civilian woman in Dnipro
- The gunman had access to a Kalashnikov rifle and 200 cartridges
- The National Guard soldier has since been captured after the killing spree
A Ukrainian National Guard soldier has shot dead five people and injured five more at a military factory in Dnipro.
Artem Ryabchuk gunned down four servicemen and one civilian woman at the Pivdenmash missile factory in the early hours of this morning in the jittery east of the country with Russian troops stationed on the nearby border.
The conscript, 21, started the attack during the issuance of weapons before going on the run armed with a Kalashnikov, but he has since been captured.
Investigators, who are yet to establish a motive, are now probing how he passed a medical commission allowing him access to the Kalashnikov rifle and 200 cartridges.
They will also investigate whether he faced any psychological pressures in his team.
Artem Ryabchuk (pictured left, during his capture) has shot dead five people and injured five more at a military factory in Dnipro
The conscript, born in 2001, went on the run armed with a Kalashnikov but he has since been captured
Doctors are still fighting to save the lives of the five people injured in the killing spree, police said.
Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said: ‘Following my order, a commission will be set up to study the circumstances that led to these actions being taken by a 21-year-old soldier, who had been called to defend his country and be responsible for security – and not to shoot his colleagues.’
Police said he had been detained in the town of Pidgorodne outside Dnipro, a city with an estimated population of around one million people.
The Yuzhmash facility is an aerospace factory that produces and tests materials related to defence, aeronautics and agriculture.
The ministry published images of the shooter with a shaved head and in military uniform, identifying him as Artemy Ryabchuk, born in 2001 in the southern region of Odessa.
It said earlier it was studying the motives for the shooting and announced that the commander of the national guard, Mykola Balan, had been dispatched to the scene.
Ukraine’s deputy interior minister Anton Gerashchenko said: ‘First of all, the investigation will face the question – what was the motive for committing such a terrible crime?
‘The question of whether the serviceman faced a psychological pressure in the team will be studied.
The shooting comes amid heightened tensions across Ukraine with Russian troops stationed on the border. Pictured: Russian military drills in Rostov yesterday
‘In any case, he will suffer the most severe punishment for the mass murder.’
Police released a photo of his capture, with Ryabchuk being held down on the snowy ground.
Shootings and bullying rituals plagued militaries of former Soviet countries in the 1990s, particularly in Russia.
It is a trend which rights groups say has improved but still results in suicides or murders in the ex-USSR.
In Ukraine there have been incidents of violence perpetrated by veterans of the country’s ongoing conflict with separatists that erupted in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula.
In August last year, a veteran threatened to detonate a hand grenade inside the government headquarters and was detained.
Police said that the man had been injured twice and suffered concussion during the fighting, which has claimed more than 13,000 lives.
In 2018, four Ukrainian marines were killed in an apparent hazing incident while stationed in the country’s war-torn east, with two fellow soldiers detained.
The conflict has also led to a proliferation of weapons also among the civilian population.
In 2020, Ukrainian police freed 13 hostages and arrested an armed man who held them on a bus for more than 12 hours, threatening to detonate an explosive device.
The shooting comes amid heightened tensions across Ukraine with Russian troops stationed on the border.
UK warships and fighter jets could be on the move within days to help thwart a Russian invasion.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is understood to have requested a range of options from military chiefs in a bid to match the build-up of Moscow’s forces.
The move is significant because it was expected to come only after an attack on Ukraine.
The reinforcement of Nato forces in former Soviet bloc countries comes after intelligence signalled a spike in Russian troop numbers in border regions
But following Nato talks yesterday, thousands of US troops are set to be deployed to Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Washington has asked its allies, including Britain, to help provide additional manpower.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken last night told Russia that the White House would never agree to its call to ban Ukraine from joining Nato.
He said Washington’s ambassador to Moscow had delivered a blueprint to ease tensions and avoid a Russian invasion.
But the diplomat said there had been ‘no concessions’ on Nato membership or pulling troops out of eastern Europe – another Russian demand.
‘The ball is in their court,’ Mr Blinken said. ‘It remains up to Russia to decide how to respond. We’re ready either way.’
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would ‘not compromise’ on its open door policy for potential members.
The former Norwegian prime minister added: ‘We are hoping for, and we are working for, a good solution, de-escalation, we are also prepared for the worst.’
He suggested a Russian buildup near Ukraine’s border had taken place ‘under the disguise’ of military exercises.
‘Russia is in the process of deploying thousands of combat troops, hundreds of aircraft, 400 air defence systems and a lot of other very advanced capabilities,’ he warned.
The reinforcement of Nato forces in former Soviet bloc countries comes after intelligence signalled a spike in Russian troop numbers in border regions.
It was calculated that Mr Putin had amassed 100,000 troops in striking distance of Ukraine but this has been upgraded to more than 120,000.
The Daily Mail has learnt that Russian paratroopers are preparing for an airborne assault rather than a ground offensive. The Kremlin has been frustrated by mild weather melting the previously icy plains and creating a quagmire.
Mid-February is considered the most likely time for any action.
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