KYIV/MOSCOW: At least 11 people were killed and 15 more wounded at a Russian military training ground on Saturday when two attackers opened fire on a group of volunteers who wished to fight in Ukraine, RIA news agency said.

A “terrorist” attack by two citizens from former Soviet states opened fire during a training on a military site in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, and “both were killed in retaliatory fire,” Russian news agencies said Saturday, citing the defence ministry.

During a firearms training session, the terrorists opened fire with small arms on the personnel of the unit, RIA cited a defence ministry statement as saying.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday the situation was “the most difficult” near the eastern town of Bakhmut, a few days after pro-Russian forces announced they were moving closer to the city.

“A very severe situation persists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions” in the Donbas, Zelensky said in his daily address, “the most difficult is near Bakhmut, like in previous days. We are still holding our positions.”

This comes after Russian-backed separatist forces in Ukraine’s Donetsk region said Thursday they had captured two nearby villages, Opytine and Ivangrad.

Russian troops have for weeks been pummelling Bakhmut, a city that used to be populated by 70,000 people, in the hope of capturing it.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2022