A video of the moment of the assassination attempt on Shinzo Abe appeared in the media

Media reports that the attacker managed to fire two shots at 67-year-old Abe, after the second the politician fell.

According to RIA Novosti , the assassination attempt on Abe took place at 11.30 local time (05.30 Moscow time) in the Japanese city of Nara during his speech as a politician as part of the election campaign for the upper house of the Japanese parliament.

Abe was flown by helicopter to Nara Prefectural University Hospital. His condition is assessed as critical: at the time of transportation, he suffered a cardiac arrest and lungs.

On suspicion of attempting to assassinate the prime minister, a local resident Tetsuya Yamagami, a former military man serving in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces , was detained. The attacker explained his actions by dissatisfaction with Abe's policy. He told the police that he intended to kill Abe .

The country's authorities called the assassination attempt monstrous, " barbaric and villainous ", which is impossible to come to terms with.