Attack on law enforcers in Astrakhan District becomes first incident since April 2017

On February 24, residents of the Bakhtemir village reported to the police about a man with a gun walking down the street. Law enforcers came to the place and demanded from the man to hand over his gun, but he opened fire on them and was killed by return fire. One policeman was hospitalized with wounds in serious condition. He stays in a coma, investigators report today.

According to the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" based on its own materials and information from other open sources, the attack on the policemen in the Astrakhan Region became the first incident after a series of attacks on law enforcers in April 2017. Meanwhile, on February 24, according to the law enforcers, the attacker opened fire only after he had been asked to lay down his arms, whereas in spring 2017, according to investigators, the attacks were pre-planned by the suspected militants.

In 2017, responsibility for both attacks was claimed by the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court. The recent attack has not yet been followed by such claims.

Let us remind you that on April 4, 2017, two inspectors of the road-and-patrol (known as DPS) service were shot dead in Astrakhan. Attackers took their weapons and fled. On April 6, 2017, three fighters of the National Guard of Russia were wounded, while one of the attackers, identified as Ramzan Kukulaev, a native of the Astrakhan Region, was killed. During the special operation, law enforcers killed three other suspected attackers.

According to investigators, in April 2017, law enforcers were attacked by members of an illegal armed formation (IAF) created in March 2017. Seven people were arrested in the case against "Astrakhan shooters." On February 12, after the elimination of violations found by the Prosecutor's Office, the criminal case was returned to the North-Caucasian District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 25, 2019 at 12:46 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.