This screen grab footage shows the head of the Udmurt Republic speaking in front of school No88 in Izhevsk. AFP

A gunman opened fire in a school in central Russia on Monday, killing 17 people and wounding 24 others before shooting himself dead, authorities said.

The shooting took place in School No. 88 in Izhevsk, a city 960 kilometers (600 miles) east of Moscow in the Udmurtia region.

Russia’s Investigative Committee identified the gunman as 34-year-old Artyom Kazantsev, a graduate of the same school, and said he was wearing a black t-shirt bearing "Nazi symbols.” No details about his motives have been released.

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According to investigators, "he was wearing a black top with Nazi symbols and a balaclava" and was not carrying any ID.

Russia's interior ministry also said there were about 20 people injured in the attack.

The region's governor Alexander Brechalov confirmed there were "casualties and wounded among children", speaking in a video statement outside school No.88 in Izhevsk.

Rescue and medical workers could be seen in the background, some running inside the school with stretchers.

Russia's health ministry said "14 ambulance teams" were working at the scene to help the injured, news agencies reported.

A city of around 630,000 people, Izhevsk is the regional capital of Russia's Udmurt Republic, located around 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) east of Moscow.

The attack came just hours after a man had opened fire and severely wounded a recruitment officer at an enlistment centre in Siberia.

Russia's last major school shooting was in April, when an armed man opened fire in a kindergarten in the central Ulyanovsk region, leaving a teacher and two children dead.

The shooter, described as "mentally ill", was later found dead, with officials saying he had shot himself.