Massacre at Russian military training camp came amid religious dispute

Russia opens criminal probe after gunmen ‘shot dead at least 11 troops and wounded 15 others at military training ground near the Ukrainian border in row over Putin’s war’

• The massacre took place on Saturday in Russia’s Belgorod region near Ukraine
• Several newly mobilised troops preparing for combat were shot by comrades 
• Russian defence ministry said that ‘terrorists’ shot 11 Russian conscripts dead
• But a source said shooters were enraged after commander insulted their religion
• Wounded soldier also claimed that a total of 32 people were killed in the attack

The gunmen who shot dead 11 Russian soldiers and wounded 15 at a training camp near to the Ukrainian border had their Islamic faith ‘insulted’ by their commander, it has been claimed, as authorities opened a criminal probe into the incident.

Russia’s RIA news agency, citing the defence ministry, said two gunmen opened fire with small arms during a training exercise of mobilised troops in Russia’s western Belgorod region on Saturday.

RIA said the gunmen, who it referred to as ‘terrorists’, were shot dead and Russia’s defence ministry said they were from a former Soviet republic, without elaborating. 

But independent news outlet ASTRA claimed to have spoken to one of the men wounded in the attack who alleged the shooters were Muslims from the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan and turned on the group when the commander described Allah as a coward.

His claims were echoed by senior Ukrainian official, Oleksiy Arestovych, who also said the ethnic Tajiks had opened fire on the others after an argument over religion.

The incident was the latest blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ‘special military operation’ after he announced last month that 300,000 new troops would be mobilised to fight in Ukraine. 

Journalist Anatoly Shariy shared pictures of servicemen who shot dead during the Belgorod region military training massacre

The incident was the latest blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ‘special military operation’ after he announced last month that 300,000 new troops would be mobilised to fight in Ukraine

The attack is said to have occurred in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine

The non-Russian shooters, who were recruited along with their victims as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent call to mobilise more troops to fight on the frontlines in Ukraine, had reportedly told their commanding officer ‘this is not our war’ and demanded they be excused from serving.

The commanding officer, named by ASTRA’s source as Lieutenant Colonel Andrei Lapin, allegedly told all the soldiers in response: ‘This is a holy war. ”Allah” is a coward if he does not allow you to fight for the country to which you swore an oath.’

The hospitalised source said the statement was met with considerable anger from the Muslims among the group, adding: ‘I personally think that this is what hurt the most, the phrase that ”Allah is a weakling”. The phrase shocked many people among those standing on the parade ground because we also have Muslims among [our Russian] officers.’ 

He said the conflict appeared to subside but then exploded again during afternoon training which involved shooting practice.

‘They sent us all together to the shooting range, and the Tajiks… deployed their machine guns.

‘They had live ammunition and shot our commander, Lt-Colonel Lapin – he died on the spot… they opened fire indiscriminately.’

The source went on to claim that a total of 32 people were killed in the attack – a considerably higher total than that reported by Russian state news channels. 

‘There were both contract soldiers and mobilised on the training ground. The dead, who I saw – numbered 29 people. The 30th was Lt-Col Lapin. This is not counting the two Tajiks who were killed along with them – making 32.

‘I don’t know exactly how many were wounded.’

The two shooters were killed by an ensign named Semyonov, according to the account.

Russia’s defence ministry labelled the incident a terrorist attack. Pictured: Putin speaking at a summit on Friday

Some Russian troops who were drafted in late September have already died on the frontlines in Ukraine (Russian citizen is pictured on the way to the frontlines, October 10) 

‘Semyonov at that moment was in the room where boxes of cartridges are stored, where they are given to us,’ said the source. ‘He has his own combat pistol. He was not present during the shooting itself, he heard what was happening, went out and shot both Tajiks.’

He said the gunmen were ‘ardent supporters of their faith’ but were not given time to appropriately observe their religion.

‘They constantly cursed because they were not allowed to pray on time, nor were they given a room for prayer,’ the source said.

Unsettling images published by pro-Russian blogger Anatoly Shariy, 44, seemingly showed the aftermath of the attack with several bodies lying on the ground.

In Shariy’s account, the shooters were ethnic Uzbeks, not Tajiks. 

He wrote that ‘a fair share of the blame for what happened lies in the fact that someone gave weapons to some very nasty people – without them being checked – the next time it won’t happen.’

An official Russian defence ministry statement said: ‘During a firearms training session with individuals who voluntarily expressed a desire to participate in the special military operation [against Ukraine], terrorists opened fire with small arms on the personnel of the unit.’

Tajiks and Uzbeks are predominantly Muslim, but it is not clear if the gunmen had been recruited in their own country or had been living in Russia.

There was fury among pro-war channels over a failure to vet recruits to the military operation.

Source: Read Full Article