Contract soldier in southern Russia flees unit with assault rifle and shoots two local residents

A Russian contract soldier fled his unit in the Volgograd region with an assault rifle and later seriously wounded two local residents on Sunday, according to reports from Telegram channels and local news outlets.

The soldier was identified as 34-year-old Maksim Valkovich. According to the channels Baza and V1.ru, Valkovichleft his unit to confront a man who had started dating his wife (or ex-wife, according to some accounts). The man reportedly didn’t come to the meeting and sent two friends in his place. Valkovich opened fire on them near an abandoned poultry farm on the outskirts of the town of Petrov Val. Local residents told V1.ru that the shooting took place around 6:00 p.m., and 18 shell casings were found at the scene. One of the victims was taken to intensive care in critical condition; the other was hospitalized with moderate injuries.

Following the shooting, police launched a citywide manhunt and closed off all roads, according to the Telegram channel Zhest. Kamyshin, which also published two photos from Petrov Val. One image showed two men in civilian clothes standing with their hands raised beside a fence, with three others nearby, one of them in uniform. Another showed several police vehicles. The accompanying post claimed that police had detained a driver who picked up Valkovich after the shooting. Locals told V1.ru that two alleged accomplices were also detained.

V1.ru reports that Valkovich previously served more than nine years in prison for extortion, robbery, and inflicting grievous bodily harm resulting in death by negligence. He was released in 2020 and placed under administrative supervision for two years. According to family members, he volunteered for military service in 2023 and has a wife and child.

Residents of Petrov Val said the town was swarming with law enforcement and military personnel. “Police officers, traffic patrols, and the military are sweeping the entire area — drones are flying overhead — everything is under control,” the head of a local school told V1.ru.

A duty officer at the military investigative department for the Volgograd garrison told journalists that investigators had received information about the deserter but declined to confirm whether the reports were accurate.

The Russian Interior Ministry and Investigative Committee have not commented on the incident.