Russia: 11 Killed in 'Terrorist' Attack at Military Site

FILE - The emblem for the Russian Defense Ministry is displayed at the ministry building in Moscow, Russia on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - The emblem for the Russian Defense Ministry is displayed at the ministry building in Moscow, Russia on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
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Russia: 11 Killed in 'Terrorist' Attack at Military Site

FILE - The emblem for the Russian Defense Ministry is displayed at the ministry building in Moscow, Russia on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
FILE - The emblem for the Russian Defense Ministry is displayed at the ministry building in Moscow, Russia on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)

Russia said two gunmen from an ex-Soviet state on Saturday attacked a military training ground killing 11 people who had volunteered to fight in Ukraine and wounding 15 others.

Russia's defense ministry said the attack in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, happened during a firearms training session.

Russia launched what it calls a special military operation in Ukraine at the end of February. Last month Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a mobilization of 300,000 Russians who had previously done compulsory military service.

"On October 15, two citizens of a CIS country committed an act of terror at a training range of the Western military district in the Belgorod region," the state news agencies quoted the ministry as saying.

"As a result, 11 people were fatally wounded. Another 15 people suffered injuries of varying gravity and were taken to medical facilities."

The two attackers "were killed in retaliatory fire", the ministry added.

"A terrible event happened on our territory, on the territory of one of the military units," the governor of Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov said early on Sunday.

"Many soldiers were killed and wounded ... There are no residents of the Belgorod region among the wounded and killed,' Gladkov said in a video post on the Telegram messaging app.

The CIS, or Commonwealth of Independent States, was formed between republics that were part of the Soviet Union.

More than 200,000 people have been conscripted into the Russian armed forces since the announcement of partial mobilization on September 21.

The draft announcement sparked protests and several attacks on recruitment offices.



Rutte: NATO Agrees Protecting Ukraine Infrastructure is Priority

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (L) talks with Danish's Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen (C) and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) during a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Oganization) Foreign Ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on December 4, 2024. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (L) talks with Danish's Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen (C) and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) during a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Oganization) Foreign Ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on December 4, 2024. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
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Rutte: NATO Agrees Protecting Ukraine Infrastructure is Priority

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (L) talks with Danish's Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen (C) and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) during a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Oganization) Foreign Ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on December 4, 2024. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)
Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (L) talks with Danish's Foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen (C) and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (R) during a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Oganization) Foreign Ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, on December 4, 2024. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)

NATO members agreed at a meeting with Ukraine's foreign minister on Tuesday evening that providing air defense systems to protect the country's infrastructure against Russian attacks has to be a priority, alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte said.
"There was a clear agreement around the table last night that to help Ukraine, particularly with its infrastructure, has to be a priority," Rutte told reporters on Wednesday.
"I'm confident that allies will follow up in the coming days and weeks in making sure that whatever they can supply to Ukraine will be supplied."

Ukraine's air force said on Wednesday that Russia launched 50 drones to attack the country overnight.

The air force said it shot down 29 of them, lost track of 18, likely due to electronic warfare, and one drone headed towards territories occupied by Russia.

Meanwhile, advisers to Donald Trump publicly and privately are floating proposals to end the Ukraine war that would cede large parts of the country to Russia for the foreseeable future, according to a Reuters analysis of their statements and interviews with several people close to the US president-elect.
The proposals by three key advisers, including Trump's incoming Russia-Ukraine envoy, retired Army Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, share some elements, including taking NATO membership for Ukraine off the table.
Trump's advisers would try forcing Moscow and Kyiv into negotiations with carrots and sticks, including halting military aid to Kyiv unless it agrees to talk but boosting assistance if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses.