Lauren C. Moye, FISM News
No civilians were wounded when a gunman fired on a military base in Russia’s Belgorod region, but the violent attack did leave over ten soldiers killed in another setback for Russia’s Ukraine campaign.
On Saturday, two gunmen opened fire on the military training ground located in Belgorod, which borders Ukraine.
Russian state news agency RIA previously said that 11 volunteers for the “special military operation” against Ukraine died in the attack. An additional 15 were wounded.
They attributed their knowledge to a defense ministry statement: “During a firearms training session with individuals who voluntarily expressed a desire to participate in the special military operation, the terrorists opened fire with small arms on the personnel of the unit.”
“A terrible event happened on our territory, on the territory of one of the military units,” said Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the region. He confirmed that no civilians were harmed, although “many soldiers” were harmed.
The Russian government has not revealed where the shooting took place or what motivated it. However, Belgorod authorities have accused Ukraine of attacking power lines, fuel sources, and ammunition lines before.
The Russian defense ministry did say the gunmen came from a nation belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych shared in a YouTube interview that the two attackers originated from the nation of Tajikistan, which is a member of the Commonwealth and is predominantly Muslim. Arestovych said the two men were motivated by a religious dispute, presumably with Russian Christians.
Both gunmen were shot dead, the defense ministry said.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attacks.
However, two witnesses told Reuters’ journalists that the Russian air defense system had activated to repel air strikes in the region on that day. Gladkov reported two individuals were wounded.
Weekend Battles
Russia has attacked 30 Ukrainian towns and villages since Saturday morning, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said earlier today. This has included five missile strikes, 23 air strikes, and up to 60 rocket attacks.
Just on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said there was “no need” for new massive strikes on Ukraine.
Today the Russian defense ministry reported, “The goals of the attacks have been reached. All the assigned targets have been neutralized.”
Ukraine has retaliated in kind with 32 different air strikes against 24 Russian targets.
This weekend’s fighting has been most intense in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces. Of key importance is the city of Bakhmut, which has roads to the two larger cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region.
Bakhmut is under Ukrainian control and has come under repeated Russian attacks this weekend.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that troops were “holding our positions” in the city.
The armed forces’ general staff said that 11 separate Russian attacks had been repelled between Bakhumut, Kramatorsk, and Avdiivka.
The Russian defense ministry said today that they had also repelled Ukrainian advances in the Donetsk, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions. These are three of the four regions that were recently illegally annexed by Russia.
In particular, the Kremlin said they had held Kherson positions during “fierce fighting.”
Zelensky said yesterday that nearly 65,000 Russians had been killed in the war so far.
On Sept. 21, Moscow reported a loss of roughly 6,000 soldiers.
Meanwhile, U.S. Pentagon numbers estimate that actual Russian casualties fall between 70,000 and 80,000 either killed or wounded.
Energy infrastructure damaged with winter approaching
Moscow has carried out strikes on Ukraine’s energy network this past week. It’s estimated that 30% of the nation’s energy infrastructure has been damaged.
The damage has increased the risk of blackouts leading into winter.
“It is important to understand that Russian terrorists will try to use the cold as their weapon,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Wednesday.
The government had recently restored power to millions of Ukrainians, but civilians were asked to cut energy usage whenever possible to help prevent greater blackouts from occurring. This means limiting appliance usage during peak consumption times.
“In their sick imagination, Ukrainians sitting for several hours without electricity is a victory. They think that this will force us to surrender. This will not happen,” Shmyhal said.