Religious conflict blamed for mass shooting at Russian military training ground near Belgorod
The number of victims of the mass shooting at the training ground near Belgorod is probably three times higher than officially reported, report Russian telegram channels.
On the morning of October 15, a shooting occurred at the training ground of the Russia Armed Forces near the village of Soloti in the Belgorod region. According to the Russian Defense Ministry’s report, 11 servicemen were killed in the incident, but in reality there may be more than three dozen victims, reported the Russian Telegram channel ASTRA, referring to the alleged eyewitness of the shootout, who was also injured there.
The source sys that the conflict arose on religious grounds. It all began after three recruits from Dagestan, Azerbaijan of Adygea submitted requests to be dismissed from service in order not to go to Ukraine. "This is not our war," they said.
In response to this, Lieutenant Colonel Andrei Lapin gathered everyone on the parade ground, where he began to tell “the military propaganda nonsense about the "holy war". This caused a conflict between the soldiers, and they began to push each other.
"The Tajiks told Lapin that a holy war is when Muslims are at war with infidels. Lapin said: "Allah is a coward if he does not allow you to fight for the country to which you have sworn allegiance," the source said.
He said that the Muslim soldiers were outraged by Lapin’s words. But it was the Tajiks who were the angriest.
An hour and a half later, when the soldiers were taken to the shooting range, they opened fire on other soldiers. Lapin, who spoke disrespectfully about Allah, was one of the fist who were killed.
"There were both contractors and mobilized at the training ground. I myself saw about 29 people shot dead. The 30th is Lieutenant Colonel Lapin. This is not counting the two Tajiks. Will them, there are 32 killed," the eyewitness said.
He claims that the gunmen told the Muslim soldiers to step aside before they opened fire.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, "On October 15, at the training ground of the Western Military District in the Belgorod region, two citizens of one of the CIS countries committed a terrorist act, as a result of which 11 people were killed, another 15 were injured."
The Russian Ministry of Defense clarified that during a fire training session with "volunteers" who are preparing to be deployed to Ukraine, the "terrorists" fired small arms at the personnel of the unit. Two of those who began firing were killed by return fire. The Ministry has not yet explained how and why foreign citizens, even citizens of the CIS country, were given weapons and ended up at the military training ground.