Gunmen kill 11 at Russian army base in new blow to Moscow's Ukraine campaign

Gunmen shot dormant 11 people at a Russian subject grooming ground, the defence ministry said, successful the latest stroke to President Vladimir Putin's forces since the penetration of Ukraine.

RIA quality bureau cited the ministry arsenic saying 15 others were wounded successful the shooting connected Saturday, successful Russia's southwestern Belgorod portion that borders Ukraine, erstwhile 2 men gunned down a radical who had volunteered to instrumentality portion successful the war.

It said the 2 assailants - nationals from an unspecified erstwhile Soviet republic - had been changeable dead. Some Russian autarkic media outlets reported that the fig of casualties was higher than the authoritative figures.

"A unspeakable lawsuit happened connected our territory, connected the territory of 1 of the subject units," the politician of Belgorod portion Vyacheslav Gladkov said aboriginal connected Sunday.

"Many soldiers were killed and wounded ... There are nary residents of the Belgorod portion among the wounded and killed,' Gladkov said successful a video station connected the Telegram messaging app.

The onslaught took spot a week aft a blast damaged a span successful Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia from Ukraine successful 2014. Earlier successful the war, Russia's flagship successful the Black Sea blew up and sank.

"During a firearms grooming league with individuals who voluntarily expressed a tendency to enactment successful the peculiar subject cognition (against Ukraine), the terrorists opened occurrence with tiny arms connected the unit of the unit," RIA cited a defence ministry connection arsenic saying.

Just a time earlier, Putin said Russia should beryllium finished calling up reservists successful 2 weeks, promising an extremity to a divisive mobilization that has seen hundreds of thousands of men summoned to combat successful Ukraine and immense numbers fly the country.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said successful a YouTube interrogation that the attackers were from the Central Asian federation of Tajikistan and had opened occurrence connected the others aft an statement implicit religion.

Tajikistan is simply a predominantly Muslim nation, portion astir fractional of Russians travel assorted branches of Christianity. The Russian ministry had said the attackers were from a federation successful the Commonwealth of Independent States, which groups 9 ex-Soviet republics, including Tajikistan.

Reuters was not instantly capable to corroborate the comments by Arestovych, a salient commentator connected the war, oregon independently verify casualty numbers and different details of the incident.

Elsewhere, Zelenskiy said that Ukrainian troops were inactive holding the strategic eastbound municipality of Bakhmut despite repeated Russian attacks portion the concern successful the larger Donbas portion remained precise difficult.

Russian forces person repeatedly tried to prehend Bakhmut, which sits connected a main roadworthy starring to the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Both are situated successful the Donetsk region.

In the 24 hours to Sunday morning, Russian forces targeted much than 30 towns and villages crossed Ukraine, launching 5 rocket and 23 aerial strikes and up to 60 rocket attacks, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said connected Sunday.

In response, Ukraine's aerial forces carried retired 32 strikes, hitting 24 Russian targets.

Fighting is peculiarly aggravated successful the eastbound provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, and the strategically important Kherson state successful the south, 3 of the 4 provinces Putin proclaimed arsenic portion of Russia past month.

Shelling by Ukrainian forces damaged the medication gathering successful the metropolis Donetsk, superior of the Donetsk region, its Russian-backed medication said connected Sunday.

Kirill Stremousov, a Russian-installed authoritative successful the Kherson region, said connected the Telegram messaging app connected Sunday that Russian forces had quashed an violative by Ukrainian troops successful the country and that the concern determination was "under control".

Ukraine's Southern Command said its forces' positions had travel nether repeated onslaught connected Saturday and a tiny "shooting battle" had taken spot adjacent the colony of Tryfonivka successful the Kherson region.

Russian forces besides fired astir 20 Russian-made Grad rockets connected the close slope of the Dnipro River successful the Kherson region, it said.

Russia's defence ministry said connected Saturday its forces had killed much than 50 Ukrainian soldiers and destroyed 5 tanks adjacent the Kakhovka Reservoir connected the Dnipro River.

Reuters was not capable to independently verify the battlefield reports.

Although Ukrainian troops person recaptured thousands of quadrate miles of onshore successful caller offensives successful the eastbound and south, officials accidental advancement is apt to dilatory erstwhile Kyiv's forces conscionable much determined resistance.

Ukrainian forces and civilians are relying on Starlink net service provided by Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket company. Musk said connected Friday helium could nary longer spend to money the work but connected Saturday said helium would proceed to bash so.

Zelenskiy said astir 65,000 Russians had been killed truthful acold since the Feb. 24 invasion, a fig acold higher than Moscow's authoritative Sept. 21 estimation of 5,937 dead. In August the Pentagon said Russia has suffered betwixt 70,000 and 80,000 casualties, either killed oregon wounded.

Zelenskiy's main of unit Andriy Yermak said connected Telegram connected Sunday that Ukraine would prevail successful the warfare due to the fact that of the continued subject assistance it is receiving from the West and the cumulative interaction of Western sanctions connected Russia's economy.

"Ukraine's violative is strategical and the decision of Russia is inevitable," Yermak said.