Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko believes that two law enforcement officers showed “psychological weakness” during the shooting in Kyiv.
He said this while talking to journalists.
“You can't evaluate the entire system based on two patrol officers. At that moment, these two people specifically showed psychological weakness,” Klymenko noted.
According to him, the first call to the police came as a report of hooliganism. On the way, the patrol officers received information about the shooting and the wounded. At the same time, the minister criticized their actions at the scene.
“This is a great shame. Two adults who swore to protect left this boy sitting on the asphalt, and they themselves ran away. At the very least, they should have taken a position, brought their weapons to battle,” the minister noted.
Instead, other crews acted promptly – the wounded man was quickly evacuated and taken to the hospital. The KORD special unit was also involved in the operation.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also provided details about the patrol officers themselves. In particular, the 44-year-old woman has been working in the police since 2015 and previously served at the headquarters, and the 27-year-old man joined the service in early 2024 after studying at the academy.
The minister added that due to the war-related personnel shortage, officers who do not have sufficient experience working in extreme conditions are sometimes involved in patrols.
“There are not enough people because someone is at war. The shortage is large in Kyiv — more than 20%. On weekends, staff officers were also put in these outfits,” the minister added.
An investigation is currently underway to assess the actions of law enforcement officers during the incident.
What is known about the shooting in Kyiv?
In the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv on April 18, a man opened fire on passersby on the street, and then broke into a supermarket, where he held those present hostage.
The attacker was eliminated during the assault on the store. The shooting left six people dead and 14 injured, including a child. The SBU qualifies the shooting of civilians as a terrorist attack.
Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko ordered an internal investigation into the actions of the police officers, who have already been suspended from duty for the period of the investigation.
This happened after a video was posted on social media showing two police officers running away when they heard gunshots. The head of the Patrol Police Department of Ukraine, Yevhen Zhukov, resigned due to the actions of police officers during the terrorist attack in Kyiv.
On April 20, it became known that the death toll had risen to seven — one of the wounded died in the hospital.
Two officers of the Kyiv patrol police have been charged with negligence of duty with grave consequences for their actions during a terrorist attack in the Holosiivskyi district.