By Felix Light
LONDON (Reuters) – A gunman has been detained after opening fire at a draft office in Russia’s Irkutsk region on Monday, the local governor said.
The gunman, who in a video published on social media is seen identifying himself to police officers as 25-year-old Ruslan Zinin, opened fire at a draft office in the town of Ust-Ilimsk. A separate video of the shooting shows him firing at least one shot inside the draft office.
Reuters was unable to verify the videos.
Irkutsk region Governor Igor Kobzev wrote on the Telegram messaging app that the draft office head was in hospital in a critical condition, and that the detained shooter “will absolutely be punished”.
A number of draft offices have been attacked since Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a partial mobilisation last Wednesday.
Protests against the draft took place over the weekend in Dagestan and Yakutia, both of which have supplied disproportionate numbers of soldiers for the war in Ukraine.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Stephen Coates)
