Russian Special Forces conducted a raid in St. Petersburg against suspected North Caucasus militants this morning. At least six of the militants were killed in the raid, according to Russian officials. The North Caucasus region of Russia lies near the main ridge of the Caucasus Mountains, and has long been the site of conflict between Chechen rebels and Russian military forces.
The Russian FBS security service reported that the raid in St. Petersburg was conducted with the intention of detaining “wanted persons accused of participating in illegal armed groups in the North Caucasus.” After the clashes which killed six of those alleged militants, another shooting took place near Moscow which caused injuries to two traffic police officers. Reports added that multiple arrests were made at the block of flats near the site of that shooting.
It is unclear as of yet whether the two gunmen who attacked the police officers on Shchelkovskoye highway, east of Moscow, are affiliated with armed groups from the North Caucasus. A spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee reported that one of the officers “is in serious condition.”
The assailants were wielding “firearms and axes” during the attack, that spokesman went on to tell the Tass news agency, and added that “one of them was shot dead by the police during the attack and the other was killed when he was resisting arrest.” Another source in the police force reportedly told Tass that one of the two officers wounded had died, but that has yet to be independently verified.
The clashes between North Caucasus armed groups are relatively common in the Caucasus region itself, but are far rarer in major cities like Moscow. The insurgency as a whole is the result of two different separatist conflicts in the Chechnya republic. Balaclava-wearing officers were seen surrounding the block where the second shooting took place, and along the outskirts of the city.
