Attack on a Russian Army training session leaves 11 dead and 15 wounded.

 

Russian soldiers. EPA/BBC.

An attack on a Russian Army training session left 11 people dead and 15 wounded. BBC. The two armed men opened fire on a group of recruits that had volunteered to fight in Ukraine. The recruits were being trained on firearms when the attack occurred. The attackers were shot dead during the incident. The Russians have not identified the attackers, only noting that they had came from a former Soviet country and not Russia. It is unclear how the attackers were able to enter Russia and how they gained access to firearms and the training site. Russia is describing the incident as a terror attack. 

My Comment:

Information on this story is fairly scarce which tells me that Russia is pretty embarrassed by it. And for good reason. There was a major breakdown somewhere that allowed these men to not only get into the country, but also to find weapons and gain access to the training field. That is not something that should have happened and it does not speak well of the Russian military that it was allowed to happen. 

I am not surprised that the victims in this attack weren't able to put up a defense. Having been to gun ranges myself, the one thing you expect to hear there is weapons fire. And these were new recruits, not trained soldiers. My guess is that they were not prepared to be thrown into combat so early. On the other hand, the attackers were shot dead in this incident. 

It's very unclear who was responsible for this attack. All the news is saying is that they were from a former Soviet republic, which is a lot of countries. Ukraine is the most obvious suspect and the only country I think that fits that description with people willing to die just to kill some Russian recruits. Given that there is a state of war between Russia and Ukraine, it's absurd that two attackers were able to infiltrate into Russia, if that is indeed what happened. 

I do disagree with the idea that this was a terror attack. After all, a military training facility is pretty obviously a military target. I guess it depends on who pulled off the attack though. If the attackers were members of the Ukraine military then it's legitimate, but if they violated the rules of war or weren't affiliated with the military then it could count as a terror attack. 

I have to say that I have not been that impressed with the Russian military. I'm even less impressed by Ukraine's, so don't get me wrong here. But I can't see this kind of thing happening in America. Sure, there have been mass shootings at military bases before, but I can't see a foreign attacker smuggling in weapons into one of our larger training bases like this. Russia really needs to step up their game if they want to prevent attacks like this in the future. 

I count this at the third major recent failure by Russia's armed forces against unconventional warfare. First there was the Nord Stream pipeline attacks, which, to be far, were fairly difficult to defend against. The second attack was the Kerch Bridge bombing, which could have been prevented with better security. And now there is this attack, which again, could have been prevented or at least mitigated with better security. I think the Russians need to realize that the Ukrainians and their NATO allies are willing to use unconventional warfare against them and they need to take steps to prevent these attacks.