Ukraine: 5 killed, several injured after soldier fires rifle at troops in arms factory

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry on Thursday confirmed that at least five people were killed and several others were injured in a shooting by a National Guard trooper in Dnipro city. It further stated that the perpetrator is still to be nabbed and that four of those killed were military personnel, while one was a civilian. "A tragedy occurred on the territory of the Yuzhmash Southern Machine-Building Plant at 03:40 am (01:40 GMT). Conscript Ryabchuk Artemy Yuryevich, a member of Ukraine's National Guard, fired at the National Guard guard on duty with a Kalashnikov rifle. The cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained, " the ministry stated, as per Sputnik. 

The National Guard said in a statement that the region around the plant where the incident occurred has been sealed off and intensively patrolled. It stated that an internal investigation has been initiated in the military unit. Meanwhile, a police operation has also been undertaken across the city, with national police and National Guard forces on high alert, as per the statement. 

Pro-Russian separatists killed two Ukrainian soldiers in September

It should be mentioned here that pro-Russian separatists gunned down two Ukrainian soldiers in heavy firing in the eastern Donetsk region in the month of September last year. In addition, ten more soldiers were critically injured as pro-separatists backed by Russia attacked Ukrainian forces with artillery, grenade launchers, and drone attacks. Following Russia's takeover of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, a battle between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists erupted in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Ukraine and its Western allies have repeatedly accused Russia of arming and supporting the separatists. Moscow, on the other hand, continues to refute all such allegations.

Image: AP/Representative