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At least 11 soldiers have been killed and a further 15 injured at a military training ground in Russia, in an incident local authorities have declared a ‘terrorist attack’.
Two assailants are reported to have opened fire on a group of volunteers preparing to fight in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry revealed on Saturday.
The attack is said to have occurred in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.
The defence ministry said two volunteer soldiers fired at fellow troops before they themselves were shot dead.
At least 11 people died at the scene with another 15 seriously wounded.
The incident took place during target practice, when the two volunteers from an unnamed ex-Soviet nation opened fire on the training group.
The ministry has labelled the incident a terrorist attack. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the incident.
The attack is said to have occurred in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine
Ukrainian forces recently recaptured the city of Kupiansk, east of Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine. A man is seen carrying buckets to collect water in the region
‘During a firearms training session with individuals who voluntarily expressed a desire to participate in the special military operation (against Ukraine), the terrorists opened fire with small arms on the personnel of the unit,’ the ministry said in a statement provided to local media.
‘As a result of the shooting, 11 people were fatally wounded. Another 15 people with wounds of varying severity were taken to a medical facility.’
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 on Friday that more than 220,000 reservists already had been called up as part of an effort to recruit 300,000.
Even though the Russian leader declared that only people who had recently served in the military will 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.
Russian citizens drafted during the partial mobilization are seen being dispatched to combat
he Ukrainian army pushed Russian troops from occupied territory in the northeast of the country in counterattacks this week
Some of the freshly called-up reservists posted videos of them being forced to sleep on the floor or even outside and given rusty weapons before being sent to the front lines.
Authorities have acknowledged that the mobilisation was often poorly organised and promised to improve the situation.
Putin said earlier this week recent military mobilisation he ordered is coming to an end, and he has no plans for further conscriptions once it has finished.
But it was revealed earlier this week Iranian troops have quietly joined the Ukrainian frontline to help train Moscow’s forces in how to operate kamikaze drones.
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Up to 50 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specialists have been sent to the southern and eastern front with hundreds of Shahed-136 drones, according to the Mirror.
A strike using the Iranian-made ‘suicide drones’ hit near Makrariv, a small city located 31 miles west of Kyiv, on Thursday, destroying critical infrastructure.
Despite denials from the Iranian regime that their forces are getting involved in the conflict, IRGC troops have reportedly been based in Dzankoi in Crimea and Kherson in the south, where one team has already been destroyed.
The ministry has labelled the incident a terrorist attack. Pictured: Putin speaking at a Summit of leaders on Friday
A Ukrainian source told the newspaper: ‘At least one of the Iranian training teams has been hit recently and they are actively being hunted down.
‘We have been concerned for some time that IRGC specialists are helping Russia in their terrible attacks on civilians and they are of course being targeted.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia earlier this week of using Iranian-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 deploying the weapon.
Between September 30 and October 6 alone, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said it had destroyed 24 of the weapons, which are designed to be flown directly into targets – overwhelming and evading air defences along the way.
With a range of more than 600 miles, the explosive-laden drones can ‘loiter’ above potential targets for hours before being slammed directly into enemy soldiers, vehicles or buildings from above – causing an explosion.
Rescuers work at the site of a residential building heavily damaged during a Russian attack in Mykolaiv on Thursday
Russia has intensified its bombardment of civilian areas in recent weeks as its military lost ground in multiple occupied regions of Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin has illegally annexed.
Kyiv said 83 missiles or drones were launched against the country on Monday morning, striking the capital and several other cities, killing civilians in the process.
‘They want panic and chaos. They want to destroy our energy system,’ Zelensky said in a video address on Telegram. He added: Russia is ‘trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth.’
There are mounting concerns about Putin’s willingness to start nuclear war.
The Russian leader has increased the number of strategic nuclear bombers stationed at an airbase near the Finnish and Norwegian borders, satellite images show.
Putin warned of ‘global catastrophe’ if Nato troops clash directly with Russia, despite having now heightened that risk himself.
The coming weeks will see a number of Russian nuclear drills, predicted to include the test-firing of ballistic missiles, at the same time as Nato tests its preparedness to respond to such attacks.
Western officials said Russia was ‘rapidly exhausting’ its supply of missiles and because of sanctions was unable to import the parts required to manufacture replacements.
One added: ‘For these reasons Russia cannot sustain the aerial campaign indefinitely.’
