Authorities say a Ukrainian National Guard member fatally shot five people and wounded five others at a military plant on Thursday.

The event occurred early on Thursday at the Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant Yuzhmash in Dnipro's core city, according to a statement from the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The suspect, Artemiy Yuriyovych Ryabchuk, 20, escaped the factory with an AK-47 after reportedly shooting the troops. Ryabchuk phoned the authorities and eventually surrendered in the town of Podgorne, north of Dnipro, according to Deutsche Welle.

Four male troops and one female civilian military employee were fatally shot, according to the ministry's social media posts. The area where the incident took place has been cordoned off, and citizens have been told to stay away.

Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy said a special commission will be established to investigate the incident as well as the circumstances that led up to the crime, Reuters reported. Investigators will also be looking into how Ryabchuk passed medical examinations that allowed him access to weapons.

 

"First and foremost, the question of whether the serviceman encountered psychological pressure in [his] squad will be examined," stated Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko.

The Makarov Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant, according to Deutsche Welle, is a prominent state-owned manufacturer of rockets and space equipment

The event at the factory comes at a time when tensions between Russia and Ukraine are at an all-time high, with about 100,000 Russian troops stationed on the Ukrainian border. While some Western officials have warned of an invasion, Russia has denied any such intentions.