Russian soldier killed by knife attack in Armenian city

YEREVAN, Armenia – A Russian soldier serving at a base in Armenia has been killed in a knife attack.

Regional prosecutor Karen Gabrielian said the soldier was attacked Saturday at a store near the military base in the city of Gyumri. Local news reports said a suspect has been arrested.

Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti cited the military’s southern command as saying that preliminary indications were the attack was sparked by a domestic dispute.

In 2015, tensions over Russia’s military presence in Gyumri rose when a Russian soldier killed seven members of a local family. That soldier was sentenced to life in prison.

Gyumri is Armenia’s second-largest city, after the capital of Yerevan, and once served as an outpost of the Russian czar. It suffered greatly after being hit by a 1988 earthquake.