Cyclist shoots at car driven by public activist Viktoria Dvoretska in Kyiv

An unidentified cyclist armed with what appears to have been an air gun opened fire at a car driven by public activist, author of the anti-sexism project “Respect”, combat veteran Viktoria Dvoretska, on June 30. Dvoretska had a child on board, the acrivist wrote in a Facebook post.

According to her, the incident occurred on Svobody Avenue in Kyiv.

“An evening that prompted me to deeply consider safety on the street. My son and I were driving home from the store. And a minute or two after seeing a cyclist hitting someone else’s car, I heard a strange sound: I looked in the mirror and saw some animal on a bicycle shooting at our car,” she said.

According to Dvoretska, she stopped, ordered her son to duck, and ran out of the car.

“Mommy's little gangster, who probably had not expected me to stop, was cycling away into the market,” she wrote.

Inspecting the car, Dvoretska discovered a hole in it: not far from the window where her child was sitting. The shot probably came from an air gun, similar to a Flaubert, from about 20 meters away.

The bullethole in Viktoria Dvoretska's car. Photo by Viktoria Dvoretska on Facebook

Dvoretska says that the police acted quick: forensic experts arrived, testimonies were collected, and an hour later investigators showed the surveillance camera footage and began searching for the suspect.

Still, Viktoria Dvoretska pointed out the legal discrepancy:

“Even if they find him, he will face an administrative fine. Minor hooliganism. Not an assassination attempt, not willful damage. Just hooliganism!”

The woman stressed that she carries an officially registered weapon herself and supports the citizens' right to own weapons — within the limits of the law. In the meantime, she pointed out, illegal pneumatic weapons are available to everyone, including people without skill or responsibility:

“Why are there weapons that any ape can buy and feel like a gangster? A weapon that may shoot you or your children right on the street?”

Dvoretska adds that for the incident targeting a child, she could have ended up in the dock instead of the attacker if she had fired even a warning shot:

“If I had used my weapon, even just a shot in the air — most likely, I would be sitting in the police station and had trials ahead of me.”

Finally, she asked eyewitnesses to share footage from their recorders.

In a comment to the Institute of Mass Information representative Valentyna Troyan, Viktoria said that in her opinion, the shooting was only caused by the free sale of pneumatic weapons and impunity.

“I don’t think they would have used pneumatic weapons if this was a planned attack. I had no contact, no quarrels, no conflict with that man. So this is a mystery for me, too,” Viktoria said.