Russian Olympic figure skating champion Alina Zagitova has offered her condolences after a gunman killed nine people at a school in the city of Kazan.
A gunman went on the rampage at School No. 175 in the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan on Tuesday, killing seven children and a teacher. The death count rose to nine when another fatality was later recorded.
The suspect was arrested at the scene and identified as 19-year-old Ilnaz Galyaviev, a former student at the school. More than a dozen other people injured in the attack are in hospital, according to local media reports.
The horrific scenes have sent Russia into mourning as messages of condolence poured in, including from 2018 Olympic figure skating champion Zagitova, who is of Tatar heritage and spent part of her childhood in the region.
Sharing an image of a lit candle with a black background on Instagram, Zagitova, 18, added a crying emoji with the message: “Condolences to the families and loved ones.”
Elsewhere, the Russian football authorities announced that the final round of Premier League matches this weekend would all begin with a minute’s silence to honor the victims, as will the Russian Cup final between Lokomotiv Moscow and Krylia Sovetov on Wednesday.
Local Premier League club Rubin Kazan shared a message of respect for the victims on their Twitter account, also wishing those who were injured in the attack a full recovery.
Выражаем соболезнования родным и близким погибших детей и взрослых при стрельбе в казанской гимназии №175. В этот трагический день мы скорбим вместе с вами.
Following Tuesday’s tragic scenes, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an emergency review of gun control legislation.
“The fact is that sometimes types of small arms are registered as hunting weapons, which in some countries are defined as assault rifles and so on,” he said.
“This, too, will be urgently worked out by the Russian Guard."
Lying around 720km from Moscow, Kazan is known as "the third capital of Russia" and is a city of over 1.2 million people. It is the main city of the mostly Muslim region of Tatarstan.
