The attack began when two soldiers, who were natives of a
CIS country, opened fire on personnel of the unit. After killing 11 and injuring 15, they were killed by return fire. The attack occurred at a military training ground. According to
Readovka the soldiers who were killed, mostly volunteers preparing to be
sent to Ukraine, were going through a fire training session when the shooting happened. The Russian media website ASTRA reported that the shooters were
Muslim Tajik nationals, and that they had gotten into an argument with other soldiers whether the war in Ukraine was "
holy" (the Tajiks' position being that the only just war would be one waged by Muslims against infidels). They began the shooting after a lieutenant colonel allegedly described
Allah as a "weakling" and "coward." The father of one of the alleged shooters confirmed to
RFE/RL that his son had died during the weekend the shooting happened. The shooter's brother told RFE/RL that his sibling was an "ordinary migrant" who immigrated to
Moscow from Southern Tajikistan several months before. The
Tajikistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they were investigating reports that their citizens were involved in the attack. == See also ==