Soldier Captured After Shooting Kills 5 at Ukraine Factory

A Ukraine National Guard soldier who allegedly killed five people at a military factory and wounded five more before going on the run has been captured, authorities. The soldier, identified as 21-year-old conscript Artemiy Ryabchuk, allegedly opened fire for unknown reason after weapons were issued at the start of a shift at the Pivdenmash aerospace and missile plant in Dnipro early Thursday, the Guardian reports. Authorities say four male soldiers and a woman were killed. Reports differ on whether the woman was a soldier or a civilian worker at the plant. Authorities say Ryabchuk, who fled the scene with an AK47 and ammunition, was captured around 12 miles away in the town of Pidhorodne, Deutsche Welle reports.

Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said a special commission will be set up to investigate the actions of the soldier, "who had been called to defend his country and be responsible for security—and not to shoot his colleagues." While there is no known connection between the shooting and the buildup of forces along Ukraine's border, the site is an extremely sensitive one and Western officials worry that Russia could use any signs of instability in the country as a pretext for invasion, New York Times reports. The Guardian notes that rights groups say the bullying of conscripts in Ukraine and other former Soviet countries has improved over the last 20 years, but murders and suicides are still far from unheard of. (More Ukraine stories.)