A Russian soldier has shot dead eight colleagues in a gun attack at a military base, Eurasia Diary reports citing Daily Star.

The soldier launched the attack on his own colleagues in Russia's far east Transbaikal region

Two other servicemen were also badly injured in the shooting in the restricted-access town of Gorny in Ulyotovsky district.

The gunman was detained at the scene.

Russia's ministry of defence confirmed in a statement: "On October 25 of this year, at about 18:20 local time (12:20 Moscow time - approx. TASS), when the guard changed, a serviceman of the repair and technical base deployed in the Chita district of the Trans-Baikal Territory opened fire on his colleagues from the service firearm.

"As a result, eight servicemen were killed on the spot, two more were injured of varying severity."

The ministry of defence added that "the soldier who opened fire was detained," and that the surviving victims "were promptly taken to a military hospital, where they received all the necessary qualified medical assistance".

The military department added: “A commission of the Russian Ministry of Defense headed by Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov flew to the scene, investigative steps are being taken to establish all the circumstances of the incident."