Kyiv gunman kills 6, takes hostages before being shot dead by Ukraine police
A gunman who killed at least six people in the streets of Kyiv on Saturday before taking hostages and barricading himself in a nearby supermarket has been shot dead by police, Ukrainian officials said.
The head of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, Ihor Klymenko, said in a statement on social media that special tactical police units stormed the store after attempts to contact the gunman with a negotiator failed.
The attacker was killed while resisting arrest, he said.
Speaking to reporters at the scene, Klymenko said that the government had killed four bystanders while on the street, before entering the supermarket and killing a fifth person.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that a sixth victim, a young woman, had died from her injuries in the hospital.
Special forces officers evacuate a hostage at the site of a shooting incident, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters
Klymenko said that police negotiators spoke with the attacker for roughly 40 minutes before storming the building.
A gunman who killed at least six people in the streets of Kyiv on Saturday before taking hostages and barricading himself in a nearby supermarket has been shot dead by police, Ukrainian officials said.
The head of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, Ihor Klymenko, said in a statement on social media that special tactical police units stormed the store after attempts to contact the gunman with a negotiator failed.
The attacker was killed while resisting arrest, he said.
Speaking to reporters at the scene, Klymenko said that the government had killed four bystanders while on the street, before entering the supermarket and killing a fifth person.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that a sixth victim, a young woman, had died from her injuries in the hospital.
Special forces officers evacuate a hostage at the site of a shooting incident, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters
Klymenko said that police negotiators spoke with the attacker for roughly 40 minutes before storming the building.
#Chinese #military #holds #joint #drills #East #China #Sea #MSDFs #Taiwan #Strait #transitChina, PLA, East China Sea, Taiwan, defense, Defense Ministry, SDF, CHINA-JAPAN RELATIONS, TAIWAN-JAPAN RELATIONS">Chinese military holds joint drills in East China Sea after MSDF’s Taiwan Strait transit
The Chinese military sent naval and air forces for “joint combat readiness patrols” in the waters and airspace of the East China Sea on Saturday, a day after a Japanese warship transited the Taiwan Strait.
The exercises were “a routine arrangement organized in accordance with the annual plan, aiming at testing the joint operations capabilities,” Senior Col. Xu Chenghua, a spokesperson for the Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command, said in a statement.
Xu said the Eastern Theater Command “will routinely organize relevant military operations based on the need of the security situation, and safeguard state sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability.”
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this April 18th, 2026 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this April 18th, 2026 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this April 18th, 2026 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
“When Israeli missiles destroyed entire homes in my neighborhood in southern Lebanon’s city of Tyre, we decided it was time to save our lives again,” the 52-year-old told DW.
In early March, Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East war after local group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, fired rockets into Israel, ostensibly in retaliation for the Israeli killing of Iran’s leader.
On Thursday, a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was brokered by the US but before that, more than 227,549 people had crossed the three official border points from Lebanon into Syria, according to the latest numbers from the United Nation’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). The vast majority, 95%, were Syrians, while 5% were Lebanese nationals.
Lebanon’s health authorities say the death toll from Israel’s attacks on the Hezbollah militia is around 2,196. The ministry does not provide a breakdown by nationality and estimates of how many Syrians are among the killed and injured range widely, from 39 to 315. According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 1 million Syrian refugees are still registered in Lebanon, with hundreds of thousands more believed to be in the country without registration.
More than 270,000 Syrians returned from Lebanon since March even though observers warn the country is not ready to host them Image: Izz Aldien Alqasem/Anadolu Agency/IMAGO
Protracted crisis
Once Qashit and his family arrived back in their home town Maarat al-Numan near Aleppo, they found their house completely destroyed as a result of Syria’s civil war, which only ended in December 2024 after a coalition of rebel groups ousted Syria’s longtime dictator, Bashar Assad.
“There are no houses for rent as the whole city is destroyed,” Qashit told DW. For the time being, they are staying with his sister.
Another Syrian, Mohammad Jassem al-Brouk, fled Israeli strikes in Lebanon two weeks ago. “It was extremely crowded at the border crossing and it took an entire day to get through,” he told DW.
When he eventually arrived at his family home in the city of Qusair near Homs, he only found remnants of the house. With no other option, he unpacked his tent from the refugee camp in Lebanon, set it up, and is now living in it. Despite his lack of housing, he has no intention of returning to Lebanon.
Earlier in April, a survey by the UN’s refugee agency, the UNHCR, found that around half of the Syrians they had interviewed also said that they intend to remain permanently in Syria despite economic challenges and limited state services.
“Syrians are returning because Lebanon has become unlivable, rather than Syria being ready to receive them,” Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, confirms. “The government can manage the border but it has no answer for what happens after that,” he said. In his view, the hundreds of thousands of returnees should not be read as a sign that conditions inside Syria have improved.
Areas that were contested during the Syrian civil war are often contaminated with unexploded devices that pose a danger to returning SyriansImage: Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Anadolu/picture alliance
Legacy of war
Syria continues to struggle with the legacy of more than a decade of conflict. Despite sanctions being lifted and Syria’s return to the international fold, sectarian clashes and political instability still compound the country’s problems.
The World Bank’s damage assessment estimates total reconstruction costs at about $216 billion (€200 billion). Basic services, including education, health care and infrastructure, remain limited and the humanitarian situation for the around 26 million people is dire.
According to the UN, around 15.6 million Syrians require humanitarian assistance and 13.3 million Syrians are food-insecure. A severe drought in 2025 devastated 95% of rainfed crops, the UN 2025 food security assessment report notes.
“Syria was already in a protracted humanitarian crisis before this new wave of returns,” Hiba Zayadin, senior researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch, told DW. “The infrastructure simply isn’t there to absorb large numbers of people, many of whom left with nothing and are returning to the same.”
Before the US-brokered ceasefire, Israel demolished large parts of southern Lebanon and Tyre, prompting Syrian refugees to pack up and leaveImage: Louisa Gouliamaki/REUTERS
Risk of unexploded devices
These are not the only issues. Syria is also one of the most contaminated countries in the world when it comes to explosive remnants. “Years of aerial bombardment, ground fighting and the use of cluster munitions across multiple governorates have left vast areas littered with unexploded ordnance, or UXO, landmines and improvised explosive devices,” Zayadin continued.
“The danger is very real,” Iain Overton confirmed. He’s the executive director of the UK-based organization, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) which records evidence of armed violence against civilians worldwide.
He also warned that UXO contamination remains particularly acute in areas that have seen sustained fighting and shifting frontlines, including parts of Raqqa, Deir el-Zour, Aleppo, Idlib and rural Homs and Hama. “These are precisely the areas to which many refugees are returning,” he told DW, adding that children and returnees unfamiliar with contaminated environments are especially vulnerable.
“Even in the absence of active hostilities, the legacy of explosive violence continues to kill and injure,” Overton said, adding that the trend is worsening. In 2024, AOAV recorded 238 UXO incidents causing 508 casualties. Of these, 479 were civilians. By 2025, this had risen sharply to 794 incidents and 1,537 casualties, including 1,424 civilians.
For Qashit and his family, recently returned from Lebanon, these is just one more thing to worry about. “My children would not recognize unexploded mines when they are playing outside,” he said, concerned.
Back to Yarmouk: A Syrian family rebuilds and seeks justice
“When Israeli missiles destroyed entire homes in my neighborhood in southern Lebanon’s city of Tyre, we decided it was time to save our lives again,” the 52-year-old told DW.
In early March, Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East war after local group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, fired rockets into Israel, ostensibly in retaliation for the Israeli killing of Iran’s leader.
On Thursday, a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was brokered by the US but before that, more than 227,549 people had crossed the three official border points from Lebanon into Syria, according to the latest numbers from the United Nation’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). The vast majority, 95%, were Syrians, while 5% were Lebanese nationals.
Lebanon’s health authorities say the death toll from Israel’s attacks on the Hezbollah militia is around 2,196. The ministry does not provide a breakdown by nationality and estimates of how many Syrians are among the killed and injured range widely, from 39 to 315. According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 1 million Syrian refugees are still registered in Lebanon, with hundreds of thousands more believed to be in the country without registration.
More than 270,000 Syrians returned from Lebanon since March even though observers warn the country is not ready to host them Image: Izz Aldien Alqasem/Anadolu Agency/IMAGO
Protracted crisis
Once Qashit and his family arrived back in their home town Maarat al-Numan near Aleppo, they found their house completely destroyed as a result of Syria’s civil war, which only ended in December 2024 after a coalition of rebel groups ousted Syria’s longtime dictator, Bashar Assad.
“There are no houses for rent as the whole city is destroyed,” Qashit told DW. For the time being, they are staying with his sister.
Another Syrian, Mohammad Jassem al-Brouk, fled Israeli strikes in Lebanon two weeks ago. “It was extremely crowded at the border crossing and it took an entire day to get through,” he told DW.
When he eventually arrived at his family home in the city of Qusair near Homs, he only found remnants of the house. With no other option, he unpacked his tent from the refugee camp in Lebanon, set it up, and is now living in it. Despite his lack of housing, he has no intention of returning to Lebanon.
Earlier in April, a survey by the UN’s refugee agency, the UNHCR, found that around half of the Syrians they had interviewed also said that they intend to remain permanently in Syria despite economic challenges and limited state services.
“Syrians are returning because Lebanon has become unlivable, rather than Syria being ready to receive them,” Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, confirms. “The government can manage the border but it has no answer for what happens after that,” he said. In his view, the hundreds of thousands of returnees should not be read as a sign that conditions inside Syria have improved.
Areas that were contested during the Syrian civil war are often contaminated with unexploded devices that pose a danger to returning SyriansImage: Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Anadolu/picture alliance
Legacy of war
Syria continues to struggle with the legacy of more than a decade of conflict. Despite sanctions being lifted and Syria’s return to the international fold, sectarian clashes and political instability still compound the country’s problems.
The World Bank’s damage assessment estimates total reconstruction costs at about $216 billion (€200 billion). Basic services, including education, health care and infrastructure, remain limited and the humanitarian situation for the around 26 million people is dire.
According to the UN, around 15.6 million Syrians require humanitarian assistance and 13.3 million Syrians are food-insecure. A severe drought in 2025 devastated 95% of rainfed crops, the UN 2025 food security assessment report notes.
“Syria was already in a protracted humanitarian crisis before this new wave of returns,” Hiba Zayadin, senior researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch, told DW. “The infrastructure simply isn’t there to absorb large numbers of people, many of whom left with nothing and are returning to the same.”
Before the US-brokered ceasefire, Israel demolished large parts of southern Lebanon and Tyre, prompting Syrian refugees to pack up and leaveImage: Louisa Gouliamaki/REUTERS
Risk of unexploded devices
These are not the only issues. Syria is also one of the most contaminated countries in the world when it comes to explosive remnants. “Years of aerial bombardment, ground fighting and the use of cluster munitions across multiple governorates have left vast areas littered with unexploded ordnance, or UXO, landmines and improvised explosive devices,” Zayadin continued.
“The danger is very real,” Iain Overton confirmed. He’s the executive director of the UK-based organization, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) which records evidence of armed violence against civilians worldwide.
He also warned that UXO contamination remains particularly acute in areas that have seen sustained fighting and shifting frontlines, including parts of Raqqa, Deir el-Zour, Aleppo, Idlib and rural Homs and Hama. “These are precisely the areas to which many refugees are returning,” he told DW, adding that children and returnees unfamiliar with contaminated environments are especially vulnerable.
“Even in the absence of active hostilities, the legacy of explosive violence continues to kill and injure,” Overton said, adding that the trend is worsening. In 2024, AOAV recorded 238 UXO incidents causing 508 casualties. Of these, 479 were civilians. By 2025, this had risen sharply to 794 incidents and 1,537 casualties, including 1,424 civilians.
For Qashit and his family, recently returned from Lebanon, these is just one more thing to worry about. “My children would not recognize unexploded mines when they are playing outside,” he said, concerned.
Back to Yarmouk: A Syrian family rebuilds and seeks justice
Edited by: C. Schaer
#Displaced #Iran #war #Lebanon #Syrian #crisis">Displaced by Iran war: out of Lebanon, into Syrian crisis
It was the shelling that drove Syrian man Imad Omar Qashit from his home again. Fourteen years ago, he fled from Syria to Lebanon. This time, it was the other way round.
“When Israeli missiles destroyed entire homes in my neighborhood in southern Lebanon’s city of Tyre, we decided it was time to save our lives again,” the 52-year-old told DW.
In early March, Lebanon was drawn into the wider Middle East war after local group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, fired rockets into Israel, ostensibly in retaliation for the Israeli killing of Iran’s leader.
On Thursday, a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was brokered by the US but before that, more than 227,549 people had crossed the three official border points from Lebanon into Syria, according to the latest numbers from the United Nation’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). The vast majority, 95%, were Syrians, while 5% were Lebanese nationals.
Lebanon’s health authorities say the death toll from Israel’s attacks on the Hezbollah militia is around 2,196. The ministry does not provide a breakdown by nationality and estimates of how many Syrians are among the killed and injured range widely, from 39 to 315. According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 1 million Syrian refugees are still registered in Lebanon, with hundreds of thousands more believed to be in the country without registration.
More than 270,000 Syrians returned from Lebanon since March even though observers warn the country is not ready to host them Image: Izz Aldien Alqasem/Anadolu Agency/IMAGO
Protracted crisis
Once Qashit and his family arrived back in their home town Maarat al-Numan near Aleppo, they found their house completely destroyed as a result of Syria’s civil war, which only ended in December 2024 after a coalition of rebel groups ousted Syria’s longtime dictator, Bashar Assad.
“There are no houses for rent as the whole city is destroyed,” Qashit told DW. For the time being, they are staying with his sister.
Another Syrian, Mohammad Jassem al-Brouk, fled Israeli strikes in Lebanon two weeks ago. “It was extremely crowded at the border crossing and it took an entire day to get through,” he told DW.
When he eventually arrived at his family home in the city of Qusair near Homs, he only found remnants of the house. With no other option, he unpacked his tent from the refugee camp in Lebanon, set it up, and is now living in it. Despite his lack of housing, he has no intention of returning to Lebanon.
Earlier in April, a survey by the UN’s refugee agency, the UNHCR, found that around half of the Syrians they had interviewed also said that they intend to remain permanently in Syria despite economic challenges and limited state services.
“Syrians are returning because Lebanon has become unlivable, rather than Syria being ready to receive them,” Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, confirms. “The government can manage the border but it has no answer for what happens after that,” he said. In his view, the hundreds of thousands of returnees should not be read as a sign that conditions inside Syria have improved.
Areas that were contested during the Syrian civil war are often contaminated with unexploded devices that pose a danger to returning SyriansImage: Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Anadolu/picture alliance
Legacy of war
Syria continues to struggle with the legacy of more than a decade of conflict. Despite sanctions being lifted and Syria’s return to the international fold, sectarian clashes and political instability still compound the country’s problems.
The World Bank’s damage assessment estimates total reconstruction costs at about $216 billion (€200 billion). Basic services, including education, health care and infrastructure, remain limited and the humanitarian situation for the around 26 million people is dire.
According to the UN, around 15.6 million Syrians require humanitarian assistance and 13.3 million Syrians are food-insecure. A severe drought in 2025 devastated 95% of rainfed crops, the UN 2025 food security assessment report notes.
“Syria was already in a protracted humanitarian crisis before this new wave of returns,” Hiba Zayadin, senior researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch, told DW. “The infrastructure simply isn’t there to absorb large numbers of people, many of whom left with nothing and are returning to the same.”
Before the US-brokered ceasefire, Israel demolished large parts of southern Lebanon and Tyre, prompting Syrian refugees to pack up and leaveImage: Louisa Gouliamaki/REUTERS
Risk of unexploded devices
These are not the only issues. Syria is also one of the most contaminated countries in the world when it comes to explosive remnants. “Years of aerial bombardment, ground fighting and the use of cluster munitions across multiple governorates have left vast areas littered with unexploded ordnance, or UXO, landmines and improvised explosive devices,” Zayadin continued.
“The danger is very real,” Iain Overton confirmed. He’s the executive director of the UK-based organization, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) which records evidence of armed violence against civilians worldwide.
He also warned that UXO contamination remains particularly acute in areas that have seen sustained fighting and shifting frontlines, including parts of Raqqa, Deir el-Zour, Aleppo, Idlib and rural Homs and Hama. “These are precisely the areas to which many refugees are returning,” he told DW, adding that children and returnees unfamiliar with contaminated environments are especially vulnerable.
“Even in the absence of active hostilities, the legacy of explosive violence continues to kill and injure,” Overton said, adding that the trend is worsening. In 2024, AOAV recorded 238 UXO incidents causing 508 casualties. Of these, 479 were civilians. By 2025, this had risen sharply to 794 incidents and 1,537 casualties, including 1,424 civilians.
For Qashit and his family, recently returned from Lebanon, these is just one more thing to worry about. “My children would not recognize unexploded mines when they are playing outside,” he said, concerned.
Back to Yarmouk: A Syrian family rebuilds and seeks justice
Post Comment