MOSCOW -- The Russian Defence Ministry says a soldier killed eight of his comrades and wounded two others in a shooting outburst at a base in Siberia before being apprehended.

The ministry said the attack happened Friday at a military base in the town of Gorny, 150 kilometres north of the border with Mongolia.

Two of those killed were officers and the others were enlisted men. The two wounded soldiers reportedly were in serious condition.

Russia's Investigative Committee said it had opened a murder case against the suspect, whom it identified as 20-year-old Ramil Shamsutdinov.

The Defence Ministry said the soldier apparently opened fire in a "nervous breakdown over personal problems unrelated to his military duties." A deputy defence minister was heading to the base to conduct an investigation.

Shootings and other violent outbursts plagued the Russian military in the 1990s and early 2000s when it suffered from desperate cash shortages and low morale. They have become relatively rare in recent years as conditions in the Russian military have improved.