Death toll in ‘terrorist’ shooting at Russian military base near Ukraine border ‘rises to 22’

The death toll from a shooting at a Russian military base on the Ukrainian border has risen to 22 after two gunmen from Tajikistan opened fire on fellow recruits, reportedly in a row over religion.

Initial reports said 11 soldiers had been killed and another 15 injured at a training ground in the Belgorod region on the Ukrainian border, Russia’s defense ministry said yesterday.

But it has now been suggested that double this number has been shot dead, with independent news channel SOTA suggesting 22 soldiers were killed and 16 injured.

There was no direct explanation for the discrepancy in the numbers after the mass shootings.

The Defense Ministry, which only revealed the shooting some 12 hours after the incident, said two volunteer soldiers fired on fellow troops before being shot dead by a sniper themselves.

The incident took place during target practice, in which a gunman fired at a target before suddenly aiming his machine gun at a crowd watching.

A second gunman used a different weapon to shoot at the men, before a “sniper” then shot the gunmen dead, reports said. They were both nationals of an unspecified former Soviet republic, that’s for sure.

SOTA also reports that a third attacker is currently “on the run” following the incident.

Ukrainian official Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said a dispute over religion preceded the shooting.

The gunmen are said to come from the ex-Soviet state of Tajikistan and belong to mobilized ‘reservists’ at an army base in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

Tajikistan is a predominantly Muslim country, while about half of Russians adhere to various branches of Christianity.

Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said today: “A terrible event has occurred on our territory, on the territory of one of the military units.

‘Many soldiers were killed and wounded. Among the injured and dead are no residents of the Belgorod region.

The Russian Defense Ministry has labeled the incident a terrorist attack. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the incident.

An eyewitness said: ‘They just went out and started’ [to shoot].’

The killings took place at a training ground, as the soldiers were about to undergo target practice before heading to the front line.

The military “volunteers” were mainly from the Bryansk region, but at least one from the Moscow region, SOTA said.

The massacre took place at a military unit near the village of Soloti, where a military camp was built in 2017 along with a training ground for the 752nd Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 3rd Motorized Rifle Division of the Western Military District.

It comes after a recent mutiny on the same base when 100 mobilized soldiers reportedly refused to be moved to the epicenter of intense fighting at Lyman.

An official source said: “During a firearms training session with individuals who voluntarily expressed a desire to participate in the special military operation (against Ukraine), the terrorists opened small arms fire on the personnel of the unit.”

Meanwhile, Mr Zelensky said yesterday that Ukrainian forces still control the strategic eastern city of Bakhmut despite repeated Russian attacks – as the situation in the greater Donbas region remains very difficult.

Russian troops have repeatedly attempted to take Bakhmut, which is located on a main road leading to the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Both are located in the Donetsk region.

In the past 24 hours, Russian forces have attacked more than 30 cities and towns in Ukraine, carrying out five missiles, 23 airstrikes and up to 60 missile strikes, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said today.

In response, the Ukrainian Air Force launched 32 strikes and hit 24 Russian targets.

Fighting is particularly fierce in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, and the strategically important province of Kherson to the south, three of the four regions Putin has “annexed” in mock referendums.

Confederate troops’ positions were attacked several times yesterday and a small “shooting” took place near the village of Tryfonivka, Kherson, the southern command of the Ukrainian armed forces said.

It comes as Putin tries to turn his fortunes in the war by mobilizing some 300,000 recruits – a move that sparked protests and forced hundreds of thousands to flee Russia.

Putin said on Friday that more than 220,000 reservists had already been called up as part of an effort to recruit 300,000.

While the Russian leader stated that only those who have recently served in the military will be drafted, activists and rights groups reported that military conscription agencies were detaining people without any military experience — some of whom were also unfit for service for medical reasons.

Some of the newly called up reservists posted videos of them being forced to sleep on the ground or even outside and given rusty weapons before being sent to the front lines.

The authorities have acknowledged that the mobilization was often poorly organized and promised to improve the situation.

Putin said earlier this week that the recent military mobilization he has ordered is coming to an end, and he has no plans for further conscription once it has ended.

But earlier this week, it was revealed that Iranian forces have quietly joined the Ukrainian frontline to help train Moscow’s troops in operating kamikaze drones.

According to the Mirror, up to 50 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specialists have been sent to the southern and eastern fronts with hundreds of Shahed-136 drones.

An attack using the Iranian-made “suicide drones” struck near Makrariv, a small town 50 kilometers west of Kiev, on Thursday, destroying critical infrastructure.

Despite denials by the Iranian regime that their troops will be involved in the conflict, IRGC forces are reportedly stationed in Dzankoi in Crimea and Kherson in the south, where one team has already been destroyed.

A Ukrainian source told the newspaper: ‘At least one of Iran’s training teams has recently been hit and they are actively being hunted.

“We have been concerned for some time that IRGC specialists are assisting Russia in their horrific attacks on civilians and they are of course being targeted.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this week accused Russia of using Iran-made Shahed-136 UAVs — also known as suicide drones — against military and civilian targets.

Tehran has denied selling the drones to Russia, but there is mounting evidence that Moscow is using the weapon.

Between September 30 and October 6 alone, Ukraine’s defense ministry said it had destroyed 24 of the weapons designed to be flown directly at targets — which overwhelm and evade air defenses along the way.

With a range of over 600 miles, the explosive-laden drones can ‘hang’ over potential targets for hours before being slammed directly at enemy soldiers, vehicles or buildings from above – causing an explosion.

Russia has intensified its bombing of civilian areas in recent weeks as its military lost ground in several occupied regions of Ukraine illegally annexed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kiev said 83 rockets or drones were launched against the country on Monday morning, hitting the capital and several other cities, killing civilians.

“They want panic and chaos. They want to destroy our energy system,” Zelensky said in a video address to Telegram. He added: Russia is “trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth.”

There are growing concerns about Putin’s willingness to start a nuclear war.

The Russian leader has increased the number of strategic nuclear bombers at an airbase near the Finnish and Norwegian borders, satellite images show.

Putin warned of a “global catastrophe” if NATO troops clash directly with Russia, despite now increasing that risk himself.

A number of Russian nuclear exercises will take place in the coming weeks, which are expected to include firing ballistic missiles, as NATO tests its readiness to respond to such attacks.

Western officials said Russia was “rapidly depleting its stock of missiles” and was unable to import the parts needed to manufacture replacements due to sanctions.

One added: “For these reasons, Russia cannot continue the air campaign indefinitely.”