(Adds interior ministry comment)
KYIV, Jan 27 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian National Guard soldier shot security guards at a military factory in central Ukraine for unknown reasons, killing five people and injuring five others before fleeing, police said on Thursday.
The incident took place in the early morning of Thursday in Dnipro at the Pivdenmash missile factory during the issuance of weapons to the guards, it said in a statement.
Police said four servicemen and one civilian woman were among the victims.
The police are looking for the escaped soldier. According to police, he has a Kalashnikov rifle and 200 cartridges in his possession.
"First of all, the investigation will face the question - what was the motive for committing such a terrible crime? First of all, the question of whether the serviceman faced a psychological pressure in the team will be studied," deputy Ukraine's interior minister Anton Gerashchenko said on Facebook.
He said investigators would look into how the soldier, Artem Ryabchuk, passed a medical commission that allowed him access to weapons.
"In any case, he will suffer the most severe punishment for the mass murder. Now the most important thing is to find and detain Artem Ryabchuk as soon as possible before he has time to commit new crimes," Gerashchenko said. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Kim Coghill and Toby Chopra)
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