A Russian city has been plunged into lockdown as cops hunt a "deserter" gunman draped in camouflage who opened fire on their fellow officers.
An unidentified suspect fired an automatic weapon at a group of cops in Novoshakhtinsk in Russia's western Rostov region, according to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The wounded policeman has been identified as 27-year-old Roman Biryukov. The married officer’s life is not in danger, said reports.
The department confirmed the attack took place around 12am today in a city located around five miles from Rostov's border with Ukraine, and specifically the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic which Vladimir Putin claims is now part of Russia.
Local media confirmed that a lockdown plan has been rolled out in the city as cops search for a man dressed in camouflage, who is between 180-190cm tall.
The city's entrances and exits have been closed and checkpoints have been set up along the borders, reports say.
"Efforts are taking place in the city to locate and detain the perpetrator of an attack on law enforcement officers,” said a local official.
“It is now necessary to leave the streets, take cover indoors, and not attempt to detain the suspect on your own.”
The Russian interior ministry said: "The crime was committed in the suburbs of Novoshakhtinsk at noon today.“
A man wearing a camouflage uniform opened fire on police officers, then fled the scene.
"One of the policemen sustained a gunshot wound.”
"[...]According to preliminary data, gunfire was conducted with a machine gun,” a law enforcement source told TASS.
“The shooter, tentatively, is a deserter.
“A search for him is underway.”
The police officer is in a moderately severe condition in hospital, said Rostov region governor Vasily Golubev.
Novoshakhtinsk has a population of 111,000.
A team of vascular surgeons from the Rostov Regional Clinical Hospital were treating him.
"He was taken to the city hospital,” said the governor.
“A team of vascular surgeons was sent to Novoshakhtinsk from the Rostov Regional Clinical Hospital to help him.
“Experts characterise the state of the policeman as of moderate severity.”
Reports suggest that a large number of mobilised men have deserted the Russian army after reaching the frontline but the topic if often taboo in the official state media.
The policeman’s first name was reported to be Roman. He was wounded in the pelvis.
In September, a gunman opened fire in a Russian army enlistment office as fury erupted over Vladimir Putin's forced call-up of civillians to fight in Ukraine.
There was terror in Ust-Ilimsk military enlistment office as a local man identified as Ruslan Zinin, 25, shouted “No-one's going to fight” before firing a sawn-off shotgun.
“We’re all going home now,” he said. The chief local military recruiter Aleksandr Yeliseyev was hit.
He is in intensive care in a "grave" condition fighting for his life.
In chilling video footage, civilians and military officers can be seen fleeing from the facility in a state of terror after the gunman pulled the trigger.
After the incident, Zinin said: “I was very worried about the [conscription] summons that came to my best friend.”
