Students fleeing hallways, jumping from windows, a figure in black moving methodically through a building
Na manhã de uma segunda-feira de setembro, um estudante abriu fogo no campus da Universidade de Perm, nos Urais russos, matando ao menos oito pessoas e ferindo dezenas antes de ser detido. O episódio se insere em uma sequência crescente de ataques a instituições de ensino na Rússia — país de legislação armamentista rígida — e levanta questões que vão além da violência imediata: sobre radicalização silenciosa, sobre o que uma sociedade escolhe ver ou ignorar, e sobre os limites das leis quando a intenção já se formou por dentro.
- Às 11h do horário local, um estudante entrou armado em um dos prédios da Universidade de Perm e abriu fogo contra quem estava ao redor, deixando ao menos oito mortos e 24 feridos, 19 deles baleados.
- Vídeos nas redes sociais mostraram estudantes em fuga pelos corredores e saltando de janelas do primeiro andar enquanto uma figura de preto avançava metodicamente pelo campus.
- O atirador foi detido após ser ferido durante a abordagem policial; sua identidade foi confirmada, mas não divulgada imediatamente, e a motivação permanece desconhecida.
- O ataque ocorre no dia seguinte às eleições legislativas russas e enquanto Putin cumpria quarentena — o presidente foi informado e expressou condolências, e ministros foram enviados a Perm.
- A Rússia enfrenta uma escalada de violência escolar que inclui o massacre em Kazan em maio de 2021 e o ataque em Kerch em 2018, com autoridades afirmando ter desarticulado dezenas de planos semelhantes nos últimos anos.
Na manhã de uma segunda-feira de setembro, um estudante entrou no campus da Universidade de Perm, nos Urais russos, e abriu fogo contra as pessoas ao seu redor. Ao ser contido — ferido e detido após resistir à prisão — ao menos oito pessoas estavam mortas e dezenas, feridas. Imagens que circularam nas redes sociais mostraram estudantes fugindo pelos corredores e saltando de janelas do primeiro andar, enquanto uma figura de preto avançava pelo prédio com uma arma.
O Comitê Investigativo russo confirmou os fatos centrais em poucas horas: oito mortos, vários feridos, balanço final ainda em apuração. O Ministério da Saúde informou que 24 pessoas foram atendidas, sendo 19 com ferimentos de bala. A identidade do atirador foi estabelecida, mas não divulgada ao público. Sua motivação permanece desconhecida.
O ataque se soma a uma série de episódios semelhantes que têm abalado a Rússia nos últimos anos, apesar de sua legislação armamentista rigorosa. Em maio de 2021, um jovem de 19 anos matou nove pessoas em uma escola em Kazan — caso que levou Putin a ordenar uma revisão das normas sobre armas de fogo. Em outubro de 2018, um estudante matou 19 pessoas em um instituto técnico em Kerch antes de se suicidar. Putin tem descrito o fenômeno como uma influência americana importada pela globalização.
Autoridades afirmam ter desarticulado dezenas de ataques planejados contra escolas nos últimos anos, muitos envolvendo adolescentes radicalizados em fóruns online. Em fevereiro de 2020, dois jovens nascidos em 2005 foram presos enquanto planejavam um ataque em Saratov após participarem de comunidades virtuais que promoviam violência e suicídio.
O tiroteio em Perm aconteceu no dia seguinte às eleições legislativas russas, vencidas pelo partido Rússia Unida do Kremlin em meio a denúncias generalizadas de fraude. Putin, em quarentena por um surto de COVID-19 no Kremlin, foi informado do ocorrido e expressou condolências. O primeiro-ministro Mikhail Mishustin e os ministros da Saúde e da Educação foram enviados à cidade. O que motivou o atirador ainda está por ser compreendido.
On a Monday morning in September, a student walked onto the campus of Perm University in Russia's Urals region and opened fire on the people around him. By the time he was stopped—wounded and detained after resisting arrest—at least eight people were dead and dozens more lay injured. Videos posted to social media in the hours after showed the chaos: students fleeing hallways, jumping from first-floor windows, a figure in black moving methodically through a building with a gun.
The shooter entered the campus at 11 a.m. local time. The Russian Investigative Committee, the country's primary investigative body, confirmed the basic facts within hours: a student had fired on those around him in one of the university buildings. Eight people were killed. Several more were wounded. The committee noted that the final victim count was still being determined. According to Russia's Health Ministry, at least 24 people were injured in total, with 19 of them shot. The gunman's identity was established but not immediately released to the public.
The incident unfolded against a backdrop of rising school violence in Russia, a country with strict gun control laws where such attacks were once rare. Yet in recent years, the frequency has climbed. Four months earlier, in May, a 19-year-old had opened fire at a school in Kazan, killing nine people. That attack prompted President Vladimir Putin to order a review of firearms regulations, particularly after it emerged that the shooter had been legally permitted to carry a semi-automatic weapon. Three years before that, in October 2018, a student at a technical institute in Kerch killed 19 people before taking his own life. Putin has characterized the phenomenon as an imported American problem, a dark consequence of globalization spreading into Russian society.
Authorities say they have dismantled dozens of planned attacks on educational institutions over recent years, typically involving teenagers. In February 2020, security forces arrested two young men born in 2005 who had been active in online forums promoting violence and suicide; they were planning to attack a school in Saratov. The pattern suggests a problem that extends beyond isolated incidents—a network of ideation, online radicalization, and intent that law enforcement has been working to intercept.
The timing of the Perm shooting added another layer of context. It occurred the day after Russia's legislative elections, which the Kremlin's United Russia party had won amid widespread accusations of fraud. Putin, currently in quarantine due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Kremlin, was briefed on the incident. His spokesman said the president expressed deep condolences to those who had lost relatives and friends. The prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, along with the health and education ministers, were dispatched to Perm.
What remains unclear is the shooter's motive. The Investigative Committee released no information about why he carried out the attack. The videos that circulated showed only the mechanics of violence—students running, jumping, a gunman advancing—but offered no window into his reasoning. As investigators work to piece together the hours and days before the shooting, Russia faces another reckoning with a form of violence it has long resisted acknowledging as its own.
Citações Notáveis
A student who was in one of the university buildings opened fire on the people around him. As a result, eight people died and several were wounded.— Russian Investigative Committee
The president expresses deep condolences to those who lost relatives and friends in the incident.— Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov, on behalf of President Vladimir Putin
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does Russia keep saying this is an American problem when it's happening on Russian soil?
Because acknowledging it as homegrown means confronting something about the society itself—the online spaces where young people radicalize, the access to weapons despite strict laws, the despair that drives someone to walk into a university with a gun. It's easier to blame globalization.
But they do catch some of these people before they act. The two arrested in 2020—how does that work?
Security services monitor forums, watch for the rhetoric of violence and suicide. They've gotten better at it. But you can't catch everyone, and you can't always know who's moved from talking about it to planning it to actually doing it.
The shooter was wounded during arrest. Does that mean he fought back?
Yes. He resisted when they came for him. Whether that was panic or something else, we don't know. His identity was established but never released publicly.
Why keep his name secret?
Russia sometimes does this to avoid glorifying the shooter, to deny him the notoriety he might have sought. But it also means the public never fully understands who he was or what drove him.
The timing—the day after elections marred by fraud accusations. Is that connected?
There's no evidence it is. But it's the kind of coincidence that makes people wonder if there's a larger fracture in the society. A rigged election, then a mass shooting. Both are symptoms of something breaking.
What happens next?
Putin will likely push for stricter gun laws again. There will be investigations. And somewhere, online, the conversation will continue among people who see violence as a response to their pain.