MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. A serviceman from the repair and maintenance base in the Chita Region shot eight soldiers dead, including two officers, and wounded two others, the Defense Ministry of Russia reported on Friday.
"At 6:20 p.m. local time on October 25, a serviceman from the repair and maintenance base stationed on the territory of the Trans-Baikal Region opened fire on his fellow servicemen from his service firearm during a changing of the guard. As a result, eight servicemen were killed on the spot while two others received wounds of various severity," the ministry explained in a statement.
According to the Defense Ministry, this outbreak of violence was sparked by a nervous breakdown.” Based on the preliminary data from the scene of the incident, the soldier's actions could have been caused by a nervous breakdown over personal circumstances unrelated to his military service," the ministry's statement reads.
A commission of the Defense Ministry led by Deputy Defense Minister Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov has been dispatched to the emergency scene where "investigative measures are underway to identify the causes of the incident," the statement says. The soldier "who opened fire was detained," the ministry specified.
The wounded servicemen "were promptly taken to a military hospital where they received necessary qualified medical assistance and their condition is not life-threatening," the statement says. According to a source in the regional emergency services, the two wounded soldiers are in critical condition. "The injured are in critical condition," the source said.