A Russian serviceman who had recently returned from the frontline in Ukraine fired multiple shots at a group of children not far from the Russian city of Volgograd, the local publication Volgograd Online reports. One of the children sustained a through-and-through wound and is currently in hospital. The shooter has been arrested, and his case has been transferred to military police.
The publication was contacted by the injured boy’s relatives. As they reported, the shooting occurred on the evening of July 12 in the small village of Ugolsky, Serafimovich District:
“At around 9 p.m., children were walking around the village, playing some music on a Bluetooth speaker. They were passing by the house of an SVO [special military operation] participant - a contract serviceman - who was celebrating something. He was having people over: his brother, also an SVO participant, and some woman. At some point, the adults came outside. The kids became wary and turned off the music. Suddenly, one of the girls heard the sound of a gun being reloaded, and the kids took off.”
According to the victim's relatives, the group of kids, all aged between nine and 13, made it to the fence of the neighboring house, where they paused and looked back. Seeing that they weren’t being followed, they continued walking away. Then the first shots were fired:
“The children fell to the ground, and when they got up and looked around, they saw two men. They recognized the shooter. More shots followed. One of the boys, 12, felt a pang of pain in his left leg. The kids started to run, but shots continued. The wounded boy stopped, looked at his leg, saw blood, and called his mom. She came running and called the ambulance. The boy was taken to hospital, where he was diagnosed with a gunshot through-and-though wound.”
The police arrived at the site of the shooting an hour later. The shooter was arrested, and his brother was also brought in. According to the boy’s relatives, the shooter denied everything at first but eventually confessed. The police submitted the case materials to the military prosecutor's office because both defendants are war participants.