A “terrorist” attack Saturday on a Russian military training ground in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine left at least 11 dead and 15 wounded, Russia’s defence ministry said.
The ministry, cited by Russian news agencies, said the attack had taken place during a training session for volunteers for the “special military operation” in Ukraine launched by Moscow at the end of February.
“On October 15, two citizens of a CIS country committed an act of terror at training range of the Western military district in the Belgorod region,” the defence ministry was quoted as saying.
“As a result, 11 people were fatally wounded. Another 15 people suffered injuries of varying gravity and were taken to medical facilities,” it said, adding that the two attackers “were killed in retaliatory fire”.
The CIS, or Commonwealth of Independent States, was formed between republics that were part of the Soviet Union.
This is just the latest in a series of incidents to have hit Belgorod region, which borders northeast Ukraine.
Earlier Saturday Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the region, said an oil depot was on fire after having been 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 strikes on its territory bordering Ukraine.
And on Friday the authorities said that a Ukrainian strike had set fire to a power station in the regional capital, also called Belgorod, causing power cuts.
This came a day after a rocket gutted the top floor of an apartment building in the city of Belgorod, without causing injuries.
A munition depot in the region was also destroyed on Thursday.
Earlier in the week, Russian officials said Ukrainian strikes had knocked out power in the town of Shebekino in the same region. A 74-year-old woman died and several others were wounded in the town.
More than 200,000 people have been conscripted into the Russian armed forces since the announcement of partial mobilisation on September 21.
The draft announcement sparked protests and several attacks on recruitment offices.
AFP
