Planted trees, dreamed of celebrating Victory Day, and loved children - what is known about the seventh victim of the "Holosiivskyi shooter"

On April 20, 2026, 72-year-old Oleksandr Hryhorovych, the seventh victim of the mass shooting in the Holosiivskyi district that occurred on April 18, died in one of Kyiv's hospitals. UNN has gathered all known information about the man who saved a child at the cost of his own life.

The elderly man was one of the first to run to the wounded boy, who had been shot by the terrorist. He covered the child with his body. But at that moment, the attacker returned and deliberately shot him.

Mr. Oleksandr was hospitalized in one of the capital's hospitals. He was in intensive care under the care of doctors. However, the injuries he sustained – gunshot wounds to the intestines, liver, and other internal organs – proved to be incompatible with life. Despite the doctors' efforts, the patient died on April 20.

The man's neighbors, who spoke with Kyiv 24 journalists, said: they have known Oleksandr Hryhorovych for a long time, as the man worked as a janitor for years. He was friendly and diligently performed his work duties.

  

In addition, the man tried to decorate the courtyard of the high-rise building where he lived with his own hands. Thus, with money from his pension and a small salary, he planted young saplings and took care of them. And during the winter holidays, he decorated live Christmas trees near the house with toys and sweets. Local children ate the sweets from the trees, and Oleksandr Hryhorovych bought treats again to please them. For this, the children called the janitor "grandpa," and he jokingly called them his "grandchildren."

In his free time, the elderly man enjoyed wood carving. He also had a dream: to make a large wooden table with his own hands, place it near the entrance, and celebrate Ukraine's Victory Day with his neighbors at it.

After Oleksandr Hryhorovych's death, he left behind a pet – a cat that the man had cared for. Now the neighbors are looking for a new home for the animal.

Recall

On April 18, an armed man opened fire on people in Kyiv, and then took hostages in a local supermarket. Seven citizens became victims of the shooter. Another 14 people, including minors, were injured.

The attacker's identity was established. He turned out to be 57-year-old Dmytro Vasylchenkov. The man had previously been prosecuted: he inflicted minor bodily harm on a person. Vasylchenkov was eliminated during the storming of the supermarket and the liberation of the hostages.

And a day earlier, the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv chose a preventive measure for two police officers who were at the crime scene, but when the terrorist opened fire on civilians, they did not neutralize him, but fled the scene of the incident.