Russian soldier shoots eight colleagues dead

Conscript detained after opening fire at military base in country's far east

A Russian soldier has shot dead eight colleagues at a military base in the country’s far east.

Two other soldiers were injured in the attack in the restricted access town of Gorny in the mountainous Transbaikal region, the Russian defence ministry said.

The gunman, a conscript, has been detained.

The defence ministry said the soldier had opened fire on his colleagues with his service weapon during a change of guard at 6.20pm local time (9.20am GMT) on Friday. It added he was believed “nervous breakdown over personal problems unrelated to his military duties”.

A deputy defence minister is to travel to the base, about 93 miles north of the border with Mongolia, to oversee an investigation.

Shootings and other outbreaks of violence plagued Russia's military in the 1990s and early 2000s, when it suffered from desperate cash shortages and low morale.

Such incidents have become relatively rare in recent years as conditions in the military have improved.