A Russian soldier has gone on a gun rampage in Crimea, killing four people - one colleague and three civilians - in an apparent random attack. The soldier first opened fire on his colleagues, killing one and wounding another, before turning his weapon on civilians in the village of Khmelnytske. According to reports, the victims were two men, aged 71 and 59, and a 64-year-old woman.
Three other people were wounded in the attack, which has left authorities searching for a motive. The attacker has been arrested, and medical staff are working to save those injured. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of the Sevastopol region, urged people to remain calm and not to spread rumors as the circumstances of the incident are established.
The attack comes as tensions in the region remain high, with Ukraine targeting Crimea with drone and missile strikes. Crimea, a strategic and heavily militarized peninsula on the Black Sea, has been under Russian control since it was seized and annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The international community has largely rejected the annexation, considering it occupied Ukrainian land.
The region has seen a significant military presence, with ongoing clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces. The incident is the latest in a series of attacks and strikes in the region. On Sunday, Russian air defenses reportedly shot down 635 Ukrainian drones overnight, including over Crimea and the Black and Azov Seas.
Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine with 133 drones during the night, 24 of which hit targets, according to the Ukrainian air force. In a separate development, Ukraine has been targeting Wildberries, Russia’s largest online marketplace, as part of its aerial campaign aimed at undermining Moscow’s war effort and hurting its economy. In under two weeks, Ukraine has struck over a dozen of the retailer’s depots, including facilities in Elektrostal, just east of Moscow, and in the Tambov region, as well as Russian-held Crimea.
At least nine people have been killed and scores wounded in these strikes. Additionally, separate Russian attacks on the Ukrainian cities of Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv killed at least two people, according to local officials.
