An 18-year-old former student of a Russian Orthodox school “blew himself up” on Monday in this adjoining establishment of a convent near Moscow, injuring at least one other 15-year-old in addition to himself.
The attack took place in the neighboring Orthodox school of the Vvedensky Vladytchny Convent in the town of Serpoukhov, about 100 kilometers south of the Russian capital, the Interior Ministry of the Moscow region said in a statement. .
“An 18-year-old former student of this school entered and blew himself up and, according to preliminary data, he was injured as well as a 15-year-old teenager,” the ministry said. “The police officers on the spot evacuated the teaching team and the students”, he continued, noting that the results were “being clarified”.
Russian news agencies Ria Novosti, Tass and Interfax mentioned up to seven injured, citing unidentified police sources. According to the regional governor, Andreï Vorobiov, “the injured children are taken care of by the doctors, their life is not threatened”.
Vladimir Putin accuses globalization
Faced with the resurgence of attacks in recent years, in particular school shootings, a toughening of the laws on the carrying of weapons has been ordered by Vladimir Putin. With these reforms, the age for acquiring hunting weapons was raised from 18 to 21, as was already the case for conventional weapons, and a reinforced medical examination was introduced.
2021 has been a particularly murderous year. The latest killing dates back to December 8 in Moscow, when a man killed two people and injured four others in a center welcoming Muscovites for their administrative procedures.
But it is the places of education that have paid a heavy price. On September 20, a student killed six people and left at least 28 injured in a shooting at Perm State University, a city in central Russia, before being wounded by a police officer and arrested.
His only motivation, according to his writings, was to kill. He had a license to carry weapons.
The deadliest shooting in recent Russian history dates back to October 2018, when a high school student killed 19 people before killing himself at a high school in Kerch, a town on Russia’s annexed Crimean peninsula of Ukraine. . Vladimir Poutine then blamed “globalization”, believing that the phenomenon of school shootings came from the United States.
Still, bombings or shootings of school premises have long been rare in Russia, but such tragedies have led to tougher arms laws ordered by President Vladimir Putin.
