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Putin says Crimean school shooting result of 'globalisation'

Mourners attended a prayer service for the Kerch polytechnic vocational school attack victims - TASS
Mourners attended a prayer service for the Kerch polytechnic vocational school attack victims - TASS

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said the mass school shooting in Crimea a day before was the result of "globalisation" and the continuation of an American trend.

"It's a result of globalisation. On social media, on the internet, we see that there is a whole community that has been created. Everything started with the tragic events in schools in the US," he said at a forum in Sochi.

He said unstable young people were creating "fake heroes for themselves" and "reaching out for a surrogate for heroism" in the absence of the real thing.

"We're not creating healthy (internet) content for young people... which leads to tragedies of this kind," he said.

"But there is a place for real heroism in today's life," he said.

CCTV footage shows Vladislav Roslyakov putting firearm shells into a backpack at an arms shop several days before the attack - Credit: REUTERS
CCTV footage shows Vladislav Roslyakov putting firearm shells into a backpack at an arms shop several days before the attack Credit: REUTERS

An 18-year-old identified as Vladislav Roslyakov on Wednesday killed at least 20 students at a college in the Moscow-annexed peninsula before killing himself.

More than 40 others were injured in what local press dubbed "Russia's Columbine", a reference to a 1999 US high school massacre.

Authorities said they were working to establish the motive for the attack.

An ex-girlfriend told Russian state media Roslyakov had spoken to her about taking revenge for bullying at the school.