On 25 October 2019, a Russian soldier shot ten of his colleagues, killing eight of them, in Gorny, Zabaykalsky Krai,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The gunman was later identified as 20-year-old Ramil Shamsutdinov.

Shooting

The shooting occurred at a

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

north of the border with

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. Two of the eight killed were officers and the rest were enlisted men. The shooting took place at 18:20 ( UTC+09:00), right after Pvt. Ramil Shamsutdinov had received an

AK-74 The AK-74 ( Russian: , tr. ''Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda'', lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974') is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974 as a successor to the AKM. While primarily ...

assault rifle. Shamsutdinov fired 26 rounds of the 30 in the

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

. A

Spetsnaz SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...

response-team arrived two minutes after the shooting. Shamsutdinov immediately surrendered without any resistance.

Investigation

The sole suspect was Pvt. Ramil Salengalovich Shamsutdinov (born 1999), a resident of the Vagay village,

Tyumen Oblast Tyumen Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is located in Western Siberia, and is administratively part of the Ural Federal District. The oblast has administrative jurisdiction over two autonomous ...

, and son of a retired military commander. The Chita

military court A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

arrested Ramil Shamsutdinov.

Motive

The Russian Ministry of Defence attributed the events to Shamsutdinov suffering a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

. However, Shamsutdinov's father alleges that severe, ritualized abuse of new recruits at the hands of officers and older soldiers drove his son to carry out the shooting, saying that his son had told him "I’m sorry father, I couldn’t have done otherwise. Either they’d kill me or I’d kill them," and that Ramil did not regret his “deliberate” actions. Shamsutdinov testified that he faced physical abuse and threats of rape.

Sentencing

In January 2021, Shamsutdinov was sentenced to 24½ years in prison. At the time of his sentencing, the Defence ministry had accepted that he was subjected to hazing prior to the shooting. Some victims' families criticized the sentence, arguing that it is too short.

References

{{Mass shootings in Russia 2019 mass shootings in Asia 2019 murders in Russia 21st-century military history of Russia Deaths by firearm in Russia Mass shootings in Russia Massacres in Russia October 2019 crimes in Asia October 2019 in Russia Workplace shootings Zabaykalsky Krai Attacks in Russia in 2019 Hazing Attacks on military installations in Russia Attacks on military installations in 2019

Shooting

Investigation

Motive

Sentencing

See also

References