At least four people have been reportedly killed in Kratovo, a village in southeast of Moscow. According to RT, a man opened fire on by-passers after barricading himself in his house.

The gunman has been identified as Igor by a neighbour. He shot at at least five men and women.

The local department of the Interior Ministry told RT in an earlier statement that, “According to preliminary reports, in the area of Kratovo a man born in 1967, from the territory of his household, started shooting at passers-by with a hunting rifle. As a result of gunfire several people were injured to varying degrees and were hospitalized.”

The house was immediately cordoned off and special forces from the Russian National Guard were deployed. A security source told RIA Novosti that the gunman, Igor also shot fire at security forces and also threw two grenades.

“On the territory of the house from which the shots were fired, two more dead bodies were found. This brings the total number of dead to four,” a police source told TASS.

The gunman managed to escape from the scene but police is searching him. According to the neighbour, Ignor was suffering from a mental condition. </s> At least 4 people were reportedly killed as a shooter opens fire at by-passers near Moscow on Saturday, reports RT.

The incident took place when an unknown man locked himself in his house in village of Kratovo, southeast of Moscow and opened fire on random by-passers in which four people lost lives succumbing to bullet injuries, reports local media.

The gunman used a hunting rifle to launch attack on unwarranted people outside his home.

Reportedly several others suffered injuries have been rushed to a local hospital Zhukovsky to recieve medial assistance.

The Special Forces from the Russian National Guard have cordoned off the area. </s> Four people have been killed in a shooting spree in the village of Kratovo, southeast of Moscow, where a man barricaded himself in his home and opened fire on by-passers. The gunman was killed as he tried to shoot his way out of the police cordon.

After authorities surrounded the house, the suspect engaged law enforcement in a firefight, with the sounds of gunfire and grenade blasts echoing through the locality. Four officers sustained light injuries before police and the National Guard shot and killed the gunman, following the hours-long stand-off.

“The shooter was blocked. For several hours he was shooting, throwing grenades. There were 14 explosions, four special forces were injured. Their injuries are light, nothing is threatening their lives,” said Russian Minister of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, who traveled to the scene to take personal charge of the situation.

At least four people were killed by the gunman, including two found dead in the suspect’s house after officers stormed it.

The drama played out in the village of Kratovo in Moscow’s Ramensky District, where the man, named by neighbors as “Igor,” barricaded himself in his house and opened fire on by-passers and police.

The house was swiftly cordoned off and special forces from the Russian National Guard were deployed to the scene.

During the stand-off, the suspect’s father arrived at the scene, pleading with his son to surrender. His pleas, however, were only answered with more shots.

After nightfall, the suspect reportedly escaped the house, but remained within the perimeter of the cordon and was pinned down and killed by authorities. His house reportedly caught fire and burnt down as authorities didn’t allow the fire crews into the area.

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An investigation is now underway to determine the exact circumstances surrounding the encounter and a murder investigation has been launched.

"The case is being brought in three parts – article 317 [threatening the life of a law enforcement officer], article 222 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation [illegal arms trafficking] and part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code [killing two or more persons]," according to local Interior Ministry director Elena Fokina.

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The suspect had no guns officially registered to him, according to authorities.

Locals told reporters that Igor had served in the conflict in Chechnya, lived with his mother and may have been suffering from a mental condition.

A neighbor told Ren TV that Igor had previously worked at the OMON (riot police) and MChS (Ministry of Emergency Situations).

“He was hurt in the MChS, and afterwards spent some time in a mental hospital,” the neighbor said. </s> The fire which killed 64 people, many of them children, at a leisure complex was caused by “criminal negligence”, President Vladimir Putin has said, TASS reported.

“What is happening here?”, the Russian president said after laying a wreath at the scene. “This is no battle or an unexpected methane outburst in a mine.”

“People, children came to relax. We are talking about demography and are losing so many people because of what? Because of criminal negligence, sloppiness.”

He also offered his condolences to the families and friends of the victims, starting the meeting with a moment of silence.

A total of 64 people were killed in the fire that swept through the Winter Cherry shopping mall in Russia’s Kemerovo.

Five people have been arrested including the official suspected of deactivating the public address system. </s> An 18-year-old student, who later killed himself, was initially believed to be the only one involved

Women light candles in memory of victims of shooting in the vocational college in Kerch, Crimea, in a church in St.Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. An 18-year-old student strode into his vocational school in Crimea, Wednesday, then pulled out a shotgun and opened fire, killing 19 students and wounding more than 50 others before killing himself. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Authorities on the Crimean Peninsula were searching for a possible accomplice of the student who carried out a shooting and bomb attack on a vocational school, killing 20 people and wounding more than 50 others, an official said Thursday.

An 18-year-old student, who later killed himself, was initially believed to be the only one to have been involved in the carnage at the Kerch Polytechnic College on Wednesday. Authorities haven’t provided a motive for the shooting, and teachers and classmates described the attacker as a shy man who had few friends.

But Kremlin-appointed Crimean chief Sergei Aksyonov told Russian news agencies on Thursday that it is possible that the attacker, identified as Vyacheslav Roslyakov, had an accomplice.

“The point is to find out who was coaching him for this crime,” he said. “He was acting on his own here, we know that. But this scoundrel could not have prepared this attack on his own, in my opinion and according to my colleagues.”

Residents of the Black Sea city of Kerch brought flowers and toys to a makeshift memorial outside the school on Thursday morning. Many were in tears and struggled to speak.

Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. Wednesday’s attack was by far the worst by a student in Russia, raising questions about school security in the country. The Kerch Polytechnic College had only a front desk with no security guards. Russia’s National Guard said Thursday that it has deployed officers and riot police to all schools and colleges in Kerch in the aftermath of the attack.

The death toll from the shooting climbed by one to 20 on Thursday after one of the wounded died in a hospital, and the first victim will be buried later in the day.

Dozens remain hospitalized in Kerch, and at least 10 people with severe injuries will be airlifted to top Russian hospitals for surgery, Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said.

Most of the people killed died from gunshot wounds, and those who ended up hospitalized have injuries from a blast from an improvised explosive device that was packed with shrapnel.

“The kids’ muscles have been ‘minced’ with small metal objects,” Skvortsova said. “Those who have their organs ripped apart, we are finding metal balls in kidneys, intestines, in blood vessels. That is how powerful the blast was.”

Skvortsova spoke of the severity of injuries some of the victims have sustained.

“Some people have feet, lower legs missing,” she said.

The school attack in Kerch was the greatest loss of life in school violence in Russia since the Beslan attack by Chechen separatists in 2004, in which 333 people were killed during a three-day siege, many of them children, and hundreds of others were wounded.

Since Crimea’s annexation, Russian authorities have repeatedly warned of a terrorism threat coming from unnamed Ukrainian nationalists as well as ethnic Tatars, an indigenous Crimean people. But despite acts of public defiance and rallies, both groups haven’t been engaged in any violent activities in Crimea.

Russia has fairly strict gun legislation. Civilians can own only hunting rifles and smoothbore shotguns and must undergo significant background checks. Roslyakov had only recently received a permit to own a shotgun and bought 150 cartridges just a few days ago, according to local officials.

Asked about possible plans to further restrict gun ownership in Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged caution and said the government would wait for the results of the investigation.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. </s> The fire at the four-story Winter Cherry mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo was extinguished by Monday morning after burning through the night.

A Russian Orthodox priest conducts a requiem for the victims of a fire in a multi-story shopping center in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, about 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) east of Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 26, 2018. Russia’s top investigative body says over 50 people are confirmed dead in a fire at a shopping mall in Siberia. The fire at the four-story Winter Cherry mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo was extinguished by Monday morning after burning through the night. (AP Photo)

With the fire alarms silent and staff reportedly nowhere to be seen, a fire at a shopping mall packed with children and their parents on the first weekend of the school recess killed 64 people in Russia’s Siberia.

The fire at the Winter Cherry mall in Kemerovo, a city about 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) east of Moscow, was extinguished by Monday morning after burning through the night. Firefighters were still recovering bodies as parts of the buildings were still smouldering. Some of the dead were found inside a cinema, which one witness said had been locked shut.

Investigators said Monday that emergency exits were blocked and a security guard turned off the public announcement system when he received a call about the blaze.

On Monday morning, Kemerovo residents were bringing flowers, candles and stuffed animals to a plaza outside the mall, and local hospitals reported an influx of people wanting to donate blood for the victims.

Sixty-four deaths were confirmed after the firefighters finished combing through the four floors of the mall, Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov told a televised briefing. Six of the bodies have not yet been recovered. Puchkov would not immediately say how many of the victims were children as only 17 people have been identified.

Twelve people have been hospitalized. Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova, who visited the Keremovo hospital where the victims were receiving treatment, said on Russian state television that the patient in the gravest condition is an 11-year-old boy who jumped out of a window from the fourth floor. The boy’s parents and younger sister died in the fire, Skvortsova said.

Some 200 animals are also believed to have died in the mall’s petting zoo. The zoo’s manager told the Tass news agency that the animals included rabbits, turtles, pigs, goats and rodents.

Russia’s top investigative body said Monday afternoon that they are searching for a security officer who appears to have turned off the PA system when he received a call about the blaze.

Four people have been detained in connection with the deadly, fire including one of the mall’s tenants. The investigators did not give the cause of the fire but said they have obtained evidence proving “flagrant violations” that could have contributed to the heavy loss of life, including the fact that the fire escapes were blocked.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday it was too early to draw conclusions about whether local officials failed in Kemerovo.

Witness testimony indicated that the fire alarm did not go off and that staff did not arrange for the evacuation at the shopping mall, which was converted from a former confectionery factory in 2013.

Winter Cherry was one of Kemerovo’s most popular entertainment centres for children, with its own indoor skating rink, petting zoo and trampolines. Kemerovo residents said the mall was packed with children and their parents.

The Ekho Mosvky radio station on Monday quoted witnesses who said the fire alarm did not go off and that the mall’s staff did not organize the evacuation.

Anna Zarechneva who was on the top floor where the fire started, watching a movie with her husband and son, said they only found out about the fire when a man ran into the theatre shouting.

“We didn’t hear the fire alarm, they even didn’t turn on the light during the show,” she said. “That movie could have been the last for us, I’ve only just realized that.”

Alexander Lillevyali lost three daughters, 11-year-old twins and a 5-year-old, who were in a cinema hall on the top floor watching a cartoon.

Lillevyali told the Meduza news website that one of his daughters called him, saying that they could smell the smoke but could not get out because the door was locked.

“I was shouting into the phone, telling her to get out but there was nothing I could do — the fire was in front of me,” he said.

The Prosecutor General’s Office on Monday ordered all shopping malls in Russia to be checked for fire safety features.

Russian companies routinely complain about excessive checks from various government agencies, which often abuse elaborate rules and regulations to pressure businesses. As a result, many companies prefer to pay bribes instead of complying with outdated and excessive regulations, including fire safety rules.

Related: Death and destruction, hope and heroism in California fires

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. </s> Four people have been killed after a shooting at a church in Dagestan, Russia

The attack in Russia’s Dagestan in the Caucasus also injured four other people.

A gunman opened fire at a festival outside a church in the town of of Kizlyar.

One witness said: “There were a lot of people there, moms with little children, elderly people. I believe God saved us, not allowing the man to get inside the church.”

The gunman is believed to have also been shot dead while fleeing the scene.

The shooting was confirmed by Russian news agency Tass this afternoon, citing the town's mayor Alexander Shuvalov and the country's Interior Ministry.

This is a breaking story, more to follow… </s> MOSCOW — With the fire alarms silent and staff reportedly nowhere to be seen, a fire at a shopping mall packed with children and their parents on the first weekend of the school recess killed 64 people in Russia's Siberia.

The fire at the Winter Cherry mall in Kemerovo, a city about 3,000 kilometres east of Moscow, was extinguished by Monday morning after burning through the night. Firefighters were still recovering bodies as parts of the buildings were still smouldering. Some of the dead were found inside a cinema, which one witness said had been locked shut.

Investigators said Monday that emergency exits were blocked and a security guard turned off the public announcement system when he received a call about the blaze.

On Monday morning, Kemerovo residents were bringing flowers, candles and stuffed animals to a plaza outside the mall, and local hospitals reported an influx of people wanting to donate blood for the victims.

Sixty-four deaths were confirmed after the firefighters finished combing through the four floors of the mall, Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov told a televised briefing. Six of the bodies have not yet been recovered. Puchkov would not immediately say how many of the victims were children as only 17 people have been identified.

Twelve people have been hospitalized. Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova, who visited the Keremovo hospital where the victims were receiving treatment, said on Russian state television that the patient in the gravest condition is an 11-year-old boy who jumped out of a window from the fourth floor. The boy's parents and younger sister died in the fire, Skvortsova said.

Some 200 animals are also believed to have died in the mall's petting zoo. The zoo's manager told the Tass news agency that the animals included rabbits, turtles, pigs, goats and rodents.

Russia's top investigative body said Monday afternoon that they are searching for a security officer who appears to have turned off the PA system when he received a call about the blaze.

Four people have been detained in connection with the deadly, fire including one of the mall's tenants. The investigators did not give the cause of the fire but said they have obtained evidence proving "flagrant violations" that could have contributed to the heavy loss of life, including the fact that the fire escapes were blocked.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday it was too early to draw conclusions about whether local officials failed in Kemerovo. </s> Five people have been killed after gunman opened fire with a hunting rifle on worshippers leaving a church service in Russia's Dagestan region.

The shooting took place on Sunday evening in Kizlyar, a town of about 50,000 people on the border with Chechnya.

The gunman was shot dead by police.

Four people died at the scene and a fifth victim died while being treated in hospital, a health ministry spokesman told the Russian TASS news agency.

Three others were wounded in the attack.

Police told TASS that the gunman was a 22-year-old resident of the city. It was not immediately clear what motivated the shooting.

Dagestan is a predominantly Muslim region between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea.

Following two separatist wars in neighbouring Chechnya, an Islamist insurgency spread to Dagestan.
A 50-year-old man opens fire on passers-by in Kratovo, Russia, killing four people.