Russian army recruits turn guns on fellow soldiers, killing 11 and wounding 15
October 16, 2022 —
Moscow: Two men have fired at soldiers on a Russian military firing range near Ukraine, killing 11 and wounding 15 before being slain themselves, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement on Saturday (Europe time) that the shooting took place in the Belgorod region in south-western Russia that borders Ukraine. It said two men from an unnamed former Soviet republic fired on volunteer soldiers during target practice and were killed by return fire.
Russian Army recruits hold their weapons during a military training at a firing range in Donetsk on October 4.CREDIT:AP
The ministry called the incident a terrorist attack.
The shooting comes amid a hasty mobilisation ordered by President Vladimir Putin to beef up Russian forces in Ukraine – a move that triggered protests and caused hundreds of thousands to flee Russia.
Putin said Friday that over 220,000 reservists already had been called up as part of an effort to recruit 300,000. He promised the mobilisation would be wrapped up in two weeks.
The mobilisation was troubled from the start, with authorities issuing confusing signals about who should be called up for service in a country where almost all men under age 65 are listed as reservists.
After days of intense destruction across Ukraine, Russia's Vladimir Putin says that he sees "no need" at this stage to conduct large-scale strikes, even hinting at withdrawing troops from part of the occupied south.
Even though the Russian leader declared that only people who had recently served in the military would be subject to the call-up, activists and rights groups reported military conscription offices rounding up people without any army experience – some of whom were also unfit for service for medical reasons.
Some of the freshly called-up reservists posted videos of themselves being forced to sleep on the floor or even outside and given rusty weapons before being sent to the front lines.
Russian media reports said some of those who were mobilised were sent to combat without receiving proper training and were quickly killed.
Authorities have acknowledged the mobilisation was often poorly organised and promised to improve the situation.
Russia’s defence ministry said two men fired at troops at a Russian military firing range near Ukraine.CREDIT:AP
Russia has lost ground in the nearly seven weeks since Ukraine’s armed forces opened their southern counteroffensive. This week, the Kremlin launched what is believed to be its largest coordinated air and missile raids on Ukraine’s key infrastructure since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
In the continuation of those attacks, a missile strike Saturday seriously damaged a key energy facility in Ukraine’s capital region, the country’s grid operator said. Following mounting setbacks, the Russian military has worked to cut off power and water in far-flung populated areas while also fending off Ukrainian counterattacks in occupied areas.
In the Zaporizhzhia region, Governor Oleksandr Starukh said the Russian military carried out strikes with suicide drones from Iran and long-range S-300 missiles. Some experts said the Russian military’s use of the surface-to-air missiles may reflect shortages of dedicated precision weapons for hitting ground targets.
Dmytro Pocishchuk, a hospital medic in the Zaporizhzhia region’s capital who has treated dozens of people wounded during Russian attacks in recent weeks, said people sought safety outdoors or in his building’s basement when the familiar blasts started at 5.15am on Saturday (Ukraine time).
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“If Ukraine stops, these bombings and killings will continue. We can’t give up to the Russian Federation,’” Pocishchuk said several hours later. He put a small Ukrainian flag on the broken windshield of his heavily damaged car.
Kyiv region Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said the missile that hit a power facility on Saturday morning didn’t kill or wound anyone. Citing security, Ukrainian officials didn’t identify the site, one of many infrastructure targets the Russian military tried to destroy after an Oct. 8 truck bomb explosion damaged the bridge that links Russia to the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Ukrainian electricity transmission company Ukrenergo said repair crews were working to restore electricity service, but warned residents about further possible outages. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, urged residents of the capital and three neighbouring regions to conserve energy.
“Putin may hope that by increasing the misery of the Ukrainian people, President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy may be more inclined to negotiate a settlement that allows Russia to retain some stolen territory in the east or Crimea,” said Ian Williams, a fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a policy organisation based in Washington. “A quick look at history shows that the strategic bombing of civilians is an ineffective way to achieve a political aim. ”
This week’s wide-ranging retaliatory attacks, which included the use of self-destructing explosive drones from Iran, killed dozens of people. The strikes hit residential buildings as well as infrastructure such as power stations in Kyiv, Lviv in western Ukraine, and other cities that had seen comparatively few strikes in recent months.
Putin said Friday that Moscow didn’t see a need for additional massive strikes but his military would continue selective ones. He said that of 29 targets the Russian military planned to knock out in this week’s attacks, seven weren’t damaged and would be taken out gradually.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, interpreted Putin’s remarks as intended to counter criticism from pro-war Russian bloggers who “largely praised the resumption of strikes against Ukrainian cities, but warned that a short campaign would be ineffective.”
In the southern Kherson region, one of the first areas of Ukraine to fall to Russia after the invasion and which Putin also illegally designated as Russian territory last month, Ukrainian forces pressed their counteroffensive Saturday.
Kyiv’s army has reported recapturing 75 villages and towns there in the last month, but said the momentum had slowed, with the fighting settling into the sort of gruelling back-and-forth that characterised Russia’s months-long offensive to conquer Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
October 16, 2022 —
Moscow: Two men have fired at soldiers on a Russian military firing range near Ukraine, killing 11 and wounding 15 before being slain themselves, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement on Saturday (Europe time) that the shooting took place in the Belgorod region in south-western Russia that borders Ukraine. It said two men from an unnamed former Soviet republic fired on volunteer soldiers during target practice and were killed by return fire.
Russian Army recruits hold their weapons during a military training at a firing range in Donetsk on October 4.CREDIT:AP
The ministry called the incident a terrorist attack.
The shooting comes amid a hasty mobilisation ordered by President Vladimir Putin to beef up Russian forces in Ukraine – a move that triggered protests and caused hundreds of thousands to flee Russia.
Putin said Friday that over 220,000 reservists already had been called up as part of an effort to recruit 300,000. He promised the mobilisation would be wrapped up in two weeks.
The mobilisation was troubled from the start, with authorities issuing confusing signals about who should be called up for service in a country where almost all men under age 65 are listed as reservists.
After days of intense destruction across Ukraine, Russia's Vladimir Putin says that he sees "no need" at this stage to conduct large-scale strikes, even hinting at withdrawing troops from part of the occupied south.
Even though the Russian leader declared that only people who had recently served in the military would be subject to the call-up, activists and rights groups reported military conscription offices rounding up people without any army experience – some of whom were also unfit for service for medical reasons.
Some of the freshly called-up reservists posted videos of themselves being forced to sleep on the floor or even outside and given rusty weapons before being sent to the front lines.
Russian media reports said some of those who were mobilised were sent to combat without receiving proper training and were quickly killed.
Authorities have acknowledged the mobilisation was often poorly organised and promised to improve the situation.
Russia’s defence ministry said two men fired at troops at a Russian military firing range near Ukraine.CREDIT:AP
Russia has lost ground in the nearly seven weeks since Ukraine’s armed forces opened their southern counteroffensive. This week, the Kremlin launched what is believed to be its largest coordinated air and missile raids on Ukraine’s key infrastructure since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
In the continuation of those attacks, a missile strike Saturday seriously damaged a key energy facility in Ukraine’s capital region, the country’s grid operator said. Following mounting setbacks, the Russian military has worked to cut off power and water in far-flung populated areas while also fending off Ukrainian counterattacks in occupied areas.
In the Zaporizhzhia region, Governor Oleksandr Starukh said the Russian military carried out strikes with suicide drones from Iran and long-range S-300 missiles. Some experts said the Russian military’s use of the surface-to-air missiles may reflect shortages of dedicated precision weapons for hitting ground targets.
Dmytro Pocishchuk, a hospital medic in the Zaporizhzhia region’s capital who has treated dozens of people wounded during Russian attacks in recent weeks, said people sought safety outdoors or in his building’s basement when the familiar blasts started at 5.15am on Saturday (Ukraine time).
Russia-Ukraine war
Russians told to flee recently ‘annexed’ region as Ukrainians advance
“If Ukraine stops, these bombings and killings will continue. We can’t give up to the Russian Federation,’” Pocishchuk said several hours later. He put a small Ukrainian flag on the broken windshield of his heavily damaged car.
Kyiv region Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said the missile that hit a power facility on Saturday morning didn’t kill or wound anyone. Citing security, Ukrainian officials didn’t identify the site, one of many infrastructure targets the Russian military tried to destroy after an Oct. 8 truck bomb explosion damaged the bridge that links Russia to the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Ukrainian electricity transmission company Ukrenergo said repair crews were working to restore electricity service, but warned residents about further possible outages. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, urged residents of the capital and three neighbouring regions to conserve energy.
“Putin may hope that by increasing the misery of the Ukrainian people, President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy may be more inclined to negotiate a settlement that allows Russia to retain some stolen territory in the east or Crimea,” said Ian Williams, a fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a policy organisation based in Washington. “A quick look at history shows that the strategic bombing of civilians is an ineffective way to achieve a political aim. ”
This week’s wide-ranging retaliatory attacks, which included the use of self-destructing explosive drones from Iran, killed dozens of people. The strikes hit residential buildings as well as infrastructure such as power stations in Kyiv, Lviv in western Ukraine, and other cities that had seen comparatively few strikes in recent months.
Putin said Friday that Moscow didn’t see a need for additional massive strikes but his military would continue selective ones. He said that of 29 targets the Russian military planned to knock out in this week’s attacks, seven weren’t damaged and would be taken out gradually.
The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, interpreted Putin’s remarks as intended to counter criticism from pro-war Russian bloggers who “largely praised the resumption of strikes against Ukrainian cities, but warned that a short campaign would be ineffective.”
In the southern Kherson region, one of the first areas of Ukraine to fall to Russia after the invasion and which Putin also illegally designated as Russian territory last month, Ukrainian forces pressed their counteroffensive Saturday.
Kyiv’s army has reported recapturing 75 villages and towns there in the last month, but said the momentum had slowed, with the fighting settling into the sort of gruelling back-and-forth that characterised Russia’s months-long offensive to conquer Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
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Explainer
On Saturday, Ukrainian troops attempted to advance south along the banks of the Dnieper River toward the regional capital, also named Kherson, but didn’t gain any ground, according to Kirill Stremousov, a deputy head of the occupied region’s Moscow-installed administration.
“The defence lines worked, and the situation has remained under the full control of the Russian army,” he wrote on his messaging app channel.
The Kremlin-backed local leaders asked civilians Thursday to leave the region to ensure their safety and to give Russian troops more manoeuvrability. Stremousov reminded them they could evacuate to Crimea and cities in southwestern Russia, where Moscow offered free accommodations to residents who agreed to leave.
Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defence Ministry’s spokesman, said the military destroyed five crossings on the Inhulets River, another route Ukraine’s fighters could take to progress toward the Kherson region.
Konashenkov claimed Russian troops also blocked Ukrainian attempts to make inroads in breaching Russian defences near Lyman, a city in the annexed Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine that the Ukrainians retook two weeks ago in a significant defeat for the Kremlin.
AP
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