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.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.