Kremlin says shooting in Russia a terrorist act

A school shooting in Russia has claimed the lives of at least 17 people, including 11 children, with dozens left injured.

The Kremlin described the shooting as a terrorist act by a former student of the school who killed himself after the attack.

This is what we know.

The shooting took place on Monday morning in School No. 88 in Izhevsk, a town 960 kilometres east of Moscow in the Udmurtia region.

The school educates children between grades one and 11.

The government of Udmurtia said 17 people, including 11 children, were killed in the shooting.

According to the Russian Investigative Committee, 24 other people, including 22 children, were wounded in the attack.

Rescue and medical workers could be seen in the background, some running inside the school with stretchers.

Investigators said the attacker was wearing a black top with Nazi symbols and a balaclava when his body was discovered.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which handles major crimes, said it was looking into the perpetrator's suspected neo-Nazi links.

The governor of Udmurtia, Alexander Brechalov, said the gunman, who he said was registered as a patient at a psychiatric facility, killed himself after the attack.

He was later identified as a 1988 local man who graduated from the school.

Russia's National Guard said he used two non-lethal handguns adapted to fire real bullets. The guns were not registered with the authorities.

There has been no information about his motives.

A criminal investigation was launched into the incident, which led to multiple murders and illegal possession of firearms.

The attack came just hours after a man opened fire and seriously wounded a recruitment officer at an enlistment centre in Siberia.

What has the Kremlin said?

He said the incident was a terrorist act by a person who appears to belong to a neo-fascist organisation or group Governor Brechalov, and has declared a period of mourning in the region to last until Thursday.

The identities of the 17 victims have not been released yet.

The attacker was found dead at the scene, and investigators said two security guards and two teachers were among the victims.

The authorities had previously announced a death toll of seven children and six adults, but did not say if that included the suspected shooter.

All but two of the 24 wounded were children, according to the Investigative Committee.

Governor Brechalov said surgeons had carried out a number of operations.

Overnight, mourners gathered to pay tribute by laying flowers and toys and lighting candles at the gates of the school.

Mass shootings at schools and universities in Russia were rare until 2021, when the country was rocked by two separate killing sprees in the central Russian cities of Kazan and Perm that spurred the Kremlin to tighten laws governing access to guns.

After a 19-year-old shot nine people at his former school in Kazan in May 2021, Mr Putin called for a review of gun control laws.

The age to acquire hunting rifles was increased from 18 to 21 and medical checks were strengthened.

In April this year, an armed man killed two children and a teacher in a kindergarten in the central Ulyanovsk region before he died by suicide.

The authorities blamed foreign influence for previous school shootings and said that young Russians have been exposed online and through television to similar attacks in the United States.

Other high-profile shooting cases have taken place in Russia's army, making the issue of hazing a focus in the country where military service is compulsory for men aged between 18 and 27.