Police in Russian border town searching for possible deserter who fired at officers after emerging from forest

Update: Regional authorities reported Wednesday that the man has been found and arrested.

Police in Russia’s Rostov region are searching for an armed man wearing camouflage who shot at police in Novoshakhtinsk, a city on the border with Ukraine, TASS reported on Tuesday.

The man reportedly attacked police near a customs office on the edge of the city. According to the Telegram channel 112, police were searching for a missing woman in the area when a man in camouflage emerged from the forest and began shooting at the police vehicle from a machine gun. The Telegram channel Mash reported that two officers were injured.

Both Baza and Mash reported that the man may be a deserter from the army.

Local kindergartens, as well as exits from the city, have been closed in response to the shooting. Authorities have asked residents not to go outside.

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