Former student wearing Nazi symbology kills 17 people in Russian school

Kremlin accuses a man “apparently belonging to a neo-fascist group” of the “terrorist act.”

United Nations conveys condolences and condemns what happened

The death toll in the armed attack perpetrated this Monday at a school in the Russian town of Izhevsk, located in the Udmurtia region (center), has risen to 17, as confirmed by the authorities, who have detailed that among the fatalities there are 11 minors and six adults. In addition, 24 people were injured, 22 of them minors.

“According to the Russian Investigative Committee — the Russian Federal Police — 17 people were killed, including 11 children and six adults,” the Committee told journalists, Russian media reported.

Earlier, the authorities notified through a statement on their Telegram channel the death of 15 people.

The attacker has been identified as Artem Kazantsev, a former student born in 1988 who wore an executioner, black clothing and Nazi symbology on it, according to Russian media. Kazantsev killed a security guard to infiltrate Izhevsk School Number 88 and committed suicide after the attack. The school had 982 students and 80 teachers.

Russian authorities have opened an investigation and stressed that “the actions of all persons involved will be analyzed from a legal point of view.” Previously, the agency had said that two security guards had been killed by the attacker, who then stormed into the center and subsequently committed suicide.

The governor of the region, Alexander Brechalov, has spoken of a “tragedy” and announced the declaration of three days of mourning — until September 29 — in Udmurtia because of the event. He has also provided two telephone numbers for “psychological support” to relatives and friends of the victims.

For his part, the Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, has pointed out that the person responsible for the attack “apparently belongs to a neo-fascist organization or group” and has stated that the President of the country, Vladimir Putin, conveys his condolences to the families of the victims of this “terrorist act”.

The Russian Investigative Committee has identified the person responsible for the attack as Artem Kazantsev, 34 years old and a former student of the center, while stressing that “the personality of the attacker, his views and his environment are being studied.” “His adherence to neo-fascist views and Nazi ideology is being analyzed,” he concluded.

Later, UN Secretary-General António Guterres acknowledged being “deeply saddened” by what had happened and conveyed his “strong” condemnation of such acts of violence, according to a statement by his deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq.

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