MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2023) An armed man broke into a private house in a gated community outside the town of Istra in the Moscow region on Saturday and barricaded inside, municipal head Tatiana Vitusheva said, adding that security agencies are storming the building.
Earlier in the day, the regional office of the Russian Interior Ministry said that security guards at the Sherwood gated community reported that a man forced his way into one of the cottages. A community police officer arrived at the scene to confirm the reports. When law enforcers approached the building, the individual, whose face was concealed by a balaclava, went outside, threatening them with what appeared to be a weapon. He forced a police officer and a security guard inside the house, where he attempted to restrain them, but they managed to flee the premises.
"A man armed with an automatic rifle broke into a private house in the cottage community 'Sherwood' of the urban district of Istra this morning. It was revealed that the man was mentally ill and had come to the Moscow region from Siberia," Vitusheva said on Telegram.
She added that the perpetrator was alone and armed with a Kalashnikov rifle with a stock of ammunition. Russia's Special Rapid Response Unit came to the scene and are storming the building where the man has barricaded, Vitusheva said.
Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein wrote on his Telegram channel that the culprit had been identified as 35-years-old Vyacheslav Chernenko from the city of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. He recently arrived in Moscow and found the address of the cottage in a listing, the lawmaker added.
The house, covering over 1,000 square meters (10,764 square feet), was put up for sale for 1 billion rubles ($11.05 million), Vitusheva said, adding that the owner is abroad and does not know the man.
Officials attempted to convince the perpetrator to surrender through talking with his mother. The area has been cordoned off, with the National Guard of Russia carrying out an operation to neutralize the man, Khinshtein said.
