Russia: school shooting leaves at least 17 dead and 23 wounded

At least 17 people have been killed, including 11 children, and 23 others injured in a shooting by an unknown gunman at a school in the city of Izhevsk in the Udmurtia republic, some 970 kilometers east of Moscow, Russia. The attack was carried out by a former student of the same school, Artiom Kazántsev, who was confirmed to have psychiatric problems.

"Today, police received a message about a shooting at school No. 88 in Izhevsk," Russian officials said on Telegram, specifying that law enforcement "immediately rushed to the scene." According to information confirmed by the authorities to the media, the attacker committed suicide after the attack. Two security guards and two teachers also lost their lives in the incident.

Dressed with Nazi symbols

According to several sources quoting the Tass news agency, the attacker was armed with two pistols and wore a black T-shirt with Nazi symbols and a ski mask. "He did not have any documents" said the chairman of the State Duma committee for information, Alexander Khinshtein. Therefore, it was not possible to immediately identify him at this time.

Hours later, officials confirmed the perpetrator of the shooting as Artiom Kazántsev, a 34-year-old man, who in addition to being a graduate of the same school, who was on the register of patients of a psychiatric hospital.

The governor of the region, Alexander Brechalov, has spoken of a "tragedy" and stressed that the center was evacuated following the shooting and cordoned off. Different media outlets have shared videos of the scene on social networks .

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the attack an "inhumane terrorist act," according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov: "The president deeply mourns the death of people and children in this school where a terrorist attack was perpetrated." He further added that Putin wishes "the wounded to recover."

Second shooting of the day and wave of attacks

On the same day, several thousand kilometers away from Irkustk, in the industrial city of Ust-Ilimsk - Siberian region - another shooting took place. Here, a man opened fire at a Russian army recruiting center, causing a gunshot wound to a military commissar as he was instructing recruits.

Ruslan Zinin, 25, was to be recruited today, according to investigation sources. Some witnesses say that before he started shooting, Zinin said, "Now we will all go home."

The attacker's mother, Marina Zinina, told local media, "Ruslan was very upset because his friend has no experience in the army, although he did not receive a summons, they said there would be a partial mobilization, and they took them all away."

The governor of the region, Igor Kobzev, confirmed the facts: "The military commissar Alexander Vladimirovich Eliseev is in intensive care, in extremely serious condition".

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine - about 6 months ago - at least 20 military commissariats have been set on fire in Russia. Just since a week ago there has been a new wave of arson attacks on military registration and enlistment offices all over Russia.