MOSCOW (National Times) – Russia said two gunmen from an ex-Soviet state on Saturday (Oct 15) attacked a military training ground killing 11 people who had volunteered to fight in Ukraine and wounding 15 others.<\/p>\n
Russia s defence ministry said the attack in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, happened during a firearms training session.<\/p>\n
Russia launched what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine at the end of February. Last month Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a mobilisation of 300,000 Russians who had previously done compulsory military service.<\/p>\n
“On Oct 15, two citizens of a CIS country committed an act of terror at a training range of the Western military district in the Belgorod region,” the state news agencies quoted the ministry as saying.<\/p>\n
“As a result, 11 people were fatally wounded. Another 15 people suffered injuries of varying gravity and were taken to medical facilities.”<\/p>\n
The two attackers “were killed in retaliatory fire”, the ministry added.<\/p>\n
The CIS, or Commonwealth of Independent States, was formed between republics that were part of the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n
More than 200,000 people have been conscripted into the Russian armed forces since the announcement of partial mobilisation on Sep 21.<\/p>\n
The draft announcement sparked protests and several attacks on recruitment offices.<\/p>\n
FIERCE FIGHTING<\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile said Saturday that his troops were facing a “most difficult” situation near the eastern town of Bakhmut, which has been under attack from the Russian army for weeks.<\/p>\n
Ukraine is clawing back territory in both the east and south, occupied by Russia for months, but is facing a tough challenge in some areas.<\/p>\n
“A very severe situation persists in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions” Zelensky said, referring to two regions Russia says its has annexed.<\/p>\n
“The most difficult is near Bakhmut, like in previous days. We are still holding our positions,” he said.<\/p>\n
Russian troops have for weeks been pummelling Bakhmut, a wine-making and salt-mining city that used to be populated by 70,000 people, in the hope of capturing the city.<\/p>\n
Zelensky also said that Russia s total losses were now approaching 65,000.<\/p>\n
One soldier, just back from the front line, told AFP they had been fighting for four days non-stop.<\/p>\n
“Out of the 13 guys in my group, we lost two soldiers, and five got evacuated,” said the 50-year-old soldier, “Poliak”, from the 93rd brigade.<\/p>\n
“For days I didn t sleep, didn t eat, didn t drink except coffee,” he added.<\/p>\n
France meanwhile said it would train up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers on its soil.<\/p>\n
Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu said France would also provide Ukraine with Crotale air-defence systems “to allow them to defend their skies”.<\/p>\n
REPEATED STRIKES<\/p>\n
Saturday s attack in the Belgorod training ground is the latest in a series of incidents to have hit the Russian region.<\/p>\n
Earlier Saturday, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, 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.<\/p>\n
Last week Russia complained of an increase in artillery and missile strikes on its territory bordering Ukraine.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
This came a day after a rocket gutted the top floor of an apartment building in the city of Belgorod, without causing injuries.<\/p>\n
A munition depot in the region was also destroyed on Thursday.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MOSCOW (National Times) – Russia said two gunmen from an ex-Soviet state on Saturday (Oct 15) attacked a military training ground killing 11 people who had volunteered to fight in Ukraine and wounding 15 others. Russia s defence ministry said the attack in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, happened during a firearms training session. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n