A GUNMAN wielding an automatic weapon killed six people and barricaded himself inside a supermarket with hostages in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, on Saturday, before he was shot and killed by police, authorities said.

At least 14 people were wounded and taken to hospital.

The attacker was not named by police, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed he was born in Russia, as authorities worked to piece together a motive for the violence.

The mass shooting took place in a busy central district of the city, outside an apartment block and a nearby shopping centre, leaving bodies on a crowded street as bystanders fled for safety.

“The assailant has been neutralised. He had taken hostages and, tragically, killed one of them. He also murdered four people on the street. Another woman died in the hospital due to severe injuries,” President Zelensky said.

In a video posted online the Ukrainian president said: “It has been established that the attacker set fire to an apartment before taking to the streets with a weapon. 

“He had a prior criminal record, had lived in the Donetsk region for a long period and was born in Russia.”

Ukraine’s special tactical police units stormed the convenience store after attempts to contact the gunman with a negotiator failed, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.