2 Gunmen open fire at a Russian military training ground near Ukraine, killing 11 and wounding 15 people
2 Gunmen opened fire at a Russian military training ground near Ukraine, killing at least 11 people and wounding 15 others.
The Ministry of Defence of Russia said that the terrorist attack took place in the Southwestern Belgorod region that borders Ukraine. The 2 gunmen were neutralised on the spot.
A Statement from the Ministry of Defence, Russia read, “During a firearms training session with individuals who voluntarily expressed a desire to participate in the special military operation (against Ukraine), the terrorists opened fire with small arms on the personnel of the unit.”
Oleksiy Arestovych, an Adviser to the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a YouTube interview that the attackers were from the Central Asian nation of Tajikistan and had opened fire on the others after an argument over religion.
Tajikistan is a predominantly Muslim nation. The Ministry of Defence of Russia said the attackers were from a nation in the Commonwealth of Independent States, which groups 9 ex-Soviet republics, including Tajikistan.
The shooting comes amid a hasty order by the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin for mobilising the Russian civilians to beef up Russian forces in Ukraine. Putin said that more than 220,000 reservists had already been called up as part of an effort to recruit 300,000.
The mobilisation has been troubled from the start, with authorities issuing confusing signals about who should be called up for service in a country where nearly all men under the age of 65 are listed as reservists. Even though the Russian leader declared that only people who had recently served in the military would be subject to the call-up, activists and rights groups reported military conscription offices rounding up people without any army.
The move triggered protest across Russia. In the Muslim region of Dagestan in Russia, minority groups along with activist groups accused Russia that minorities are being disproportionately targeted for conscription in the war.
Some of the newly called-up reservists posted videos of themselves being forced to sleep on the floor or even outside and given rusty weapons before being sent to the front lines. There are reports that some of those who were mobilised were sent to combat without receiving proper training and were quickly killed.
Earlier, The Governor of Belgorod – Vyacheslav Gladkov said an oil depot was on fire after being shelled. He posted a photo showing flames and plumes of black smoke rising above a building. Last week, Russia complained of an increase in artillery and missile raids on its territory bordering Ukraine.
Besides, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has killed more than 65,000 Russians since the invasion. However, as per Russia, there had been only 5,937 casualties.
