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Two Russian army reservists killed eleven soldiers and injured 15 in a lethal shooting incident at a military training base in the Belgorod region. The attack took place on Saturday at 10am local time at a base in the Valuysky district. The assailants were shot and killed a few minutes later by military staff.
The injured were transferred to the Valuyskaya Central District Hospital.
At least two of them had gunshot wounds to the legs, and another was shot in the chest.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence described the attackers as “terrorists” in a statement confirming the shootings issued via the state news agency RIA Novosti.
They said: “During a fire training session with volunteers preparing for a special operation, the terrorists fired small arms at the personnel of the unit.
“11 people died, 15 were hospitalised with injuries of varying severity.”
Alternative sources claimed that as many as 22 soldiers were killed and that there were three shooters, with one managing to escape.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, 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.
It comes as Vladimir Putin said Russia’s mobilisation drive would be completed in two weeks.
The Russian President announced a “partial” nationwide draft in September, as he finally caved in to his generals’ demands for more manpower.
Putin said on Friday that around 220,000 men had been so far conscripted into the army.
He said this was a sufficient effort to help beef up troop numbers on the battlefield.
The Russian President added that “nothing additional” was being planned and he saw no need to further strengthen his frontlines in Ukraine.
Russia’s army has suffered massive casualties since it invaded its neighbour at the end of February.
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Recent strikes have targeted an ammunition dump and an electricity substation in the city of Belgorod itself.
A barracks housing a detachment of Rosgvardia soldiers was also wiped out last week by artillery shells ostensibly fired from Ukraine.
New reports suggest that an oil terminal in the city has been hitting the latest attack.
Michael MacKay, a Ukrainian expert, reported on his Twitter page that an oil depot was on fire in Belgorod.
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