MOSCOW —
Russia said two gunmen from an ex-Soviet state on
Saturday attacked a military training ground killing 11 people who had
volunteered to fight in Ukraine, and wounding 15 others.
اضافة اعلان
Russia’s defense ministry said the attack in the
Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, happened during a firearms training
session.
Russia launched what it calls a special military
operation in Ukraine at the end of February. Last month Russian President
Vladimir Putin ordered a mobilization of 300,000 Russians who had previously
done compulsory military service.
“On October 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.
“As a result, 11 people were fatally wounded.
Another 15 people suffered injuries of varying gravity and were taken to
medical facilities.”
The two attackers “were killed in retaliatory fire”,
the ministry added.
The CIS, or Commonwealth of Independent States, was
formed between republics that were part of the Soviet Union.
More than 200,000 people have been conscripted into
the Russian armed forces since the announcement of partial mobilization on
September 21.
The draft announcement sparked protests and several
attacks on recruitment offices.
Fierce fighting
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.
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.
“A very severe situation persists in the Donetsk and
Lugansk regions” Zelensky said, referring to two regions Russia says it has
annexed.
“The most difficult is near Bakhmut, like in
previous days. We are still holding our positions,” he said.
Russian troops have for weeks been pummeling
Bakhmut, a wine-making and salt-mining city that used to be populated by 70,000
people, in the hope of capturing the city.
Zelensky also said that Russia’s total losses were
now approaching 65,000.
One soldier, just back from the front line, told AFP
they had been fighting for four days non-stop.
“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.
“For days I didn’t sleep, didn’t eat, didn’t drink
except coffee,” he added.
France meanwhile said it would train up to 2,000
Ukrainian soldiers on its soil.
Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu said
France would also provide Ukraine with Crotale air-defense systems “to allow
them to defend their skies”.
Repeated strikes
Saturday’s attack in the
Belgorod training ground is the latest in a series of incidents to have hit the
Russian region.
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.
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.
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