The first production of weakly agglomerated zinc selenide nanopowders by evaporation of a target of the required chemical composition in argon using a fiber ytterbium laser is reported. Nanoparticles have the shape of polyhedrons and, more rarely, spheres with an average size of 18 nm. According to XRD data, the obtained nanopowders contain two phases: a stable cubic phase (sphalerite, 40 wt. %) and a metastable hexagonal phase (wurtzite, 60 wt. %). An analysis of HRTEM showed that most of the nanoparticles have structural defects. Due to superstoichiometry, defects in the crystal structure of the crystallographic shift type are formed in nanoparticles. Magneli phases, Wadsley defects and various kinds of heterogeneity inside the particles were found.