The attacker opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and afterward fled the scene.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry announced Thursday that at least five people died after a member of the national guard opened fire at an aerospace factory in the east of the country.

The Ministry said the shooting took place in the city of Dnipro and the attacker opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and fled the scene afterward.

"At 03:40 [01:40 GMT] a tragedy occurred on the territory of the Yuzhmash Southern Machine-Building Plant. A serviceman of the National Guard of Ukraine, Conscript Ryabchuk Artemy Yuryevich, born in 2001, upon being given a weapon, shot at National Guard watch on duty from a Kalashnikov rifle for unknown reasons, after which he fled with the weapon. As a result, five people were killed and five more were injured," the Ministry said.

According to the Ministry, four died on the scene while one serviceman died of gunshot wounds while under medical care.

A police operation was launched in the city, with personnel of the national police and national guard units were put on high alert.

Motives for the crime are still unknown.

Update:

Ukraine says national guard serviceman detained after shooting.