Russian flag flies with the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin in the background in Moscow, Russia, February 27, 2019.

A Russian conscript serving in the far east of the country shot dead eight other soldiers and badly injured two others on Friday after having a nervous breakdown, the Defense Ministry said, the Interfax news agency reported.



The conscript has been detained, the ministry said, and the two injured troops are being treated in a military hospital. Their lives are not in danger.

The incident occurred at a military facility in the far east of the country in the Zabaikalsk region.



The Defense Ministry statement reported by Interfax did not say why the conscript had suffered a nervous breakdown, but said the shooting had occurred at a time when the guard was being changed at the base.