Local resident opens fire in military enlistment office in Irkutsk region

In the town of Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk region, a man opened fire at the military enlistment office, injuring a military officer. Telegram channels published a video of the incident showing one man standing on the stage in a small hall and shooting at another man behind the pulpit, after which he falls, and those gathered run out of the room.

Content Warning: This video contains material that some may find shocking.

The military commissar of the district Alexander Eliseev is in intensive care in an extremely serious condition, said the head of the region Igor Kobzev. Shortly after the incident, it was reported that the military commissar was killed, but this information was not confirmed. According to Mash, he had six bullet wounds. Kobzev said that he “gave instructions to strengthen security measures” and that he was “ashamed that such things happen at a time when we should be united.”

The shooter was detained - he is a 25-year-old local resident. In the video of his detention, published by Baza, he identifies himself as Ruslan Zinin. Baza wrote that he was supposed to have been mobilized. Before he opened fire, he allegedly said, “Now let’s all go home.” An eyewitness of the incident told RBC:

Today, around 11:40 a.m. we went to the military registration and enlistment office, gave our documents. During the first hour, the enlistment officer took some of the men to the assembly hall and began to explain the situation in the country, how he was carrying out the state’s will, and all that sort of thing. Then the shooter jumped up, went up to him, said, “Now we’re all going home,” and shot the military commissar. I fell on the floor. After the second shot I ran. Now I am in the Investigative Committee’s office.

Ruslan Zinin’s mother told Astra that the mobilization summons came not to him but to his best friend, who was not in the army, which made him “very upset.” In the morning, the man told his grandmother that he was going to the recruitment center as a volunteer, the newspaper reports.

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under the articles an attempt on the life of a serviceman (317 of the Criminal Code) and the unlawful possession of a firearm (222 of the Criminal Code).

A new wave of arson on military registration and enlistment offices was launched in Russia after the mobilization announcement. Since September 21, there have been at least 11 such attempts; several administrative buildings have also been attacked. Arson on military registration and enlistment offices began after the invasion of Ukraine, but with less frequency: about 20 cases occurred in six months.