Russian soldier kills 8 at Siberian military base

This undated photo shows Ramil Shamsutdinov, a soldier who has gone on a shooting spree in Siberia on Friday, Oct. 25, 2019 at a military base in the town of Gorny in the Baikal Lake region about 150 kilometers (93 miles) north of the border with Mongolia. The Russian Defense Ministry says a soldier has gone on a shooting spree in Siberia, killing eight fellow servicemen and wounding two others before being apprehended. (Project Baza via AP)

The Russian Defense Ministry says a soldier killed eight of his comrades and wounded two others in a shooting outburst at a base in Siberia before being apprehended.

The ministry said the attack happened on Friday 25th October at a military base in the town of Gorny, 150 kilometres (93 miles) north of the border with Mongolia. Two of those killed were officers and the others were enlisted men. The two wounded soldiers reportedly were in serious condition.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened a murder case against the suspect, whom it identified as 20-year-old Ramil Shamsutdinov.

Shootings and other violent outbursts plagued the Russian military in the 1990s and early 2000s when it suffered from desperate cash shortages and low morale. They have become relatively rare in recent years as conditions in the Russian military have improved.

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