Unidentified man fired on reception of Federal Security Service and was later shot dead

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

One person has been shot dead after an unidentified gunman opened fire on the office of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s main intelligence agency, in the heart of Moscow.

According to Russian media reports, the man attacked the reception of the Lubyanka building, home to the FSB and its communist-era predecessor the KGB. The victim was described as a traffic police officer. Other FSB guards were injured in the shooting, with two in a critical condition, officials said.

Video shows the gunman raking the Lubyanka building with rounds of gunfire and shattering windows. At the bottom of the frame, one person appears to be lying motionless in the street.

The assailant reportedly fled and barricaded himself inside a neighbouring building. The security services then shot him dead. Last night they were seeking to establish his identity, the news service Interfax reported.

As night fell, armed FSB officers were carrying out sweeps of neighbouring courtyards in a search for the gunman’s possible accomplices.

Earlier, a major security operation was launched as heavy gunfire rang out across the square and the surrounding area. Russian special forces with automatic weapons rushed to the scene. Video showed them running along the pavement.

“I was sitting in a cafe opposite the FSB building when we heard shots,” Sergei Komlin said. “I saw police officers taking cover behind cars. Staff hurried us out through the back entrance.”

“I thought it was fireworks and then I saw how police started to fall on the asphalt and crouch down,” Robert Anchipolovsky, an Israeli musician, added, speaking to Associated Press.

The five people injured in the incident were being treated in hospital, the health ministry said. Ambulances were seen driving from the Lubyanka, which is located in the centre of Moscow, not far from Red Square. Officers reportedly told shoppers to get off the streets “in case of stray bullets”.

It is unclear what the attacker’s motive might have been or whether he was acting alone.

The shootings took place on the same day as one of the Kremlin’s showpiece events of the year – the annual press conference by Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, screened live across the country. The incident may have been planned to coincide with the speech, an FSB source told Reuters.

Putin was FSB chief before becoming prime minister under Boris Yeltsin and then, in 2000, president. The agency is Russia’s most powerful domestic spy outfit. When the gunfire began, Putin was making a speech inside the Kremlin’s grand palace in honour of the FSB and other security personnel.

The concert takes place every year on Russia’s day of the security forces, which includes the FSB. A high proportion of Russia’s government members have a security or intelligence background. Putin praised the officers for their contribution to fighting terrorism and organised crime.

The Lubyanka has previously been the target of attacks, including a suicide bombing by Islamist terrorists on the nearby metro station.

Just over a year ago a 17-year-old anarchist died as he detonated an explosive device at the entrance to an FSB office in Arkhangelsk, a city in north-west Russia. Three FSB officers were injured in the bombing.

In 2015 the performance artist Pyotr Pavelensky set fire to the wooden doors of the Lubyanka. He said he was protesting against the agency’s “unending terror” and its power over 146 million Russian citizens.

The FSB building, which takes up an entire city block, was used by the KGB and its Soviet predecessors for interrogations and detaining opponents. During the Stalin era thousands of prisoners were shot in its basement.