The first Columbine-inspired school attack in Russian history, prompting legislation banning online communities glorifying mass violence.
Key Facts
- Date of attack
- September 5, 2017
- Attacker
- Mikhail Pivnev, a ninth-grade student
- Injured
- 4 (1 teacher, 3 students)
- Sentence handed down
- 7 years 3 months imprisonment + 20,000 ruble fine
- Verdict date
- February 15, 2019
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Ninth-grader Mikhail Pivnev was inspired by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, perpetrators of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in the United States. His admiration for the American mass murderers led him to plan and carry out an attack at his own school in Ivanteyevka, Moscow Oblast.
On the morning of September 5, 2017, Pivnev entered Educational Center No. 1 in Ivanteyevka, attacked an IT teacher with a cleaver and an air rifle, and detonated homemade explosive devices. Four people were injured in total, including three students who jumped from a window to escape. Pivnev was detained by law enforcement shortly after.
A psychological examination found Pivnev sane; in 2019 he was sentenced to over seven years in a correctional colony. The attack sparked widespread public debate and led to federal legislation banning so-called 'Columbine communities' on Russian social networks. A series of similar school attacks followed in Russian cities including Ulan-Ude, Sterlitamak, Perm, and Volsk.