Police in Russia’s Rostov region are searching for a suspected deserter from the Russian army who shot at police officers in the southern Russian city of Novoshakhtinsk near the Russian-Ukraine border on Tuesday, Russian news agency TASS reported.
The man reportedly fired at police officers after emerging from a wooded area on the outskirts of the city in southern Russia’s Rostov region, injuring one officer.
According to Russian news outlet Mash, the man is suspected of being a deserter from the Russian army.
Kindergartens as well as some roads in and out of the city have been closed, with local authorities advising residents to remain indoors.
The security concerns in the city, which is just 20 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, follows a wave of attacks on Russian-soil believed to have been carried out by the Ukrainian military as Kyiv’s tactics in the war continue to shift gear.
A drone attack on an airfield in the Russian border region of Kursk on Tuesday set an oil storage tank alight, while Moscow blamed Kyiv for two similar attacks on Monday after explosions at airbases in the Ryazan and Saratov regions killed three servicemen and wounded four others.
Russian border regions are continuing to feel the effects of the conflict, with satellite imagery last month showing trenches being dug and road blocks being set up in the border region of Belgorod.
Tuesday’s shooting in Novoshakhtinsk is the first suspected instance of a deserter returning to Russia and shooting at security officials, however.