10 killed, wounded in shooting at a military plant in Ukraine

The attacker opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and afterwards fled the scene, the interior ministry said

A Ukrainian National Guard soldier opened fire on security guards at a military factory in central Ukraine for unknown reasons, killing five people and wounding five others before fleeing, Al Jazeera reported.

The incident took place in the early hours of Thursday in Dnipro at the Pivdenmash missile factory (Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant Yuzhmash) as weapons were being issued to the guards at the start of a shift, a police statement said.

The attacker opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and afterwards fled the scene, the interior ministry said, adding: “As a result, five people died and another five were injured.”

Police later captured the suspect in the town of Pidgorodne outside of Dnipro.

Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy named the soldier as Artem Ryabchuk and said he would “bear the strictest responsibility provided by law”.

Monastyrskiy added the five wounded people were receiving medical treatment and “doctors are fighting to save their lives”.

The incident occurred at 3:40am (01:40 GMT) when the shooter was being issued a weapon at the beginning of his shift, the ministry said. “The motives for the crime are not yet known.”