for concealing information about Private Sychev

hazing

Yesterday, the chief military prosecutor of the Russian Federation, Alexander Savenkov, announced that a criminal case had been opened against the head of the Chelyabinsk Higher Tank Military School, Major General Viktor Sidorov. He is suspected of abuse of power because he hid the facts of hazing in the school's support battalion. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov promised to dismiss Major General Sidorov.

“A criminal case was initiated under Article 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (‘Abuse of official powers’) in connection with the facts of concealing crimes committed at this institute, including against private Sychev,” said Chief Military Prosecutor Savenkov. According to him, the investigation has evidence that the head of the school, Viktor Sidorov, knew that the reason for the amputation of Sergei Sychev’s legs was gangrene caused by beatings. But the general reported to the leadership and the prosecutor's office that the amputation was caused by the illness of the serviceman and that there were no hazing in the school.

“It has been reliably established that as a result of the callousness that the officers showed towards Sychev, he was not provided with medical assistance in a timely manner,” the prosecutor also noted. He said that investigators interviewed not only the battalion soldiers and the school management, but also the commander-in-chief of the ground forces, Alexei Maslov, who is a witness in the criminal case. As part of this case, seven military personnel have already been detained, including three officers, who were directly involved in the beatings of young soldiers (eight privates suffered from hazing) and who did not take action on the complaints of the victims.

Yesterday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov gave instructions to release General Sidorov from his post and dismiss him from military service. At the same time, Mr. Ivanov noted that the Russian Ministry of Defense is conducting a “serious” internal investigation into why information about the incident at the Chelyabinsk Tank School was transferred to the military department only 25 days after the incident. In addition, the minister decided to amend departmental regulations “aimed at toughening punishment for officials who conceal crimes and incidents, cases of hazing and barracks hooliganism.”

Yesterday, Commander-in-Chief Maslov flew to Chelyabinsk to personally understand the situation. From the airport, Colonel General Maslov first went to Bishkil, where the battalion supporting the educational process of the Chelyabinsk Tank School is stationed. The commander-in-chief walked through the battalion barracks, and then all the soldiers were called to him one by one, whom he questioned about what happened in the unit on New Year's Eve - it was then that the demobilization officers bullied Private Sychev and his colleagues.

After staying at the battalion's location for two hours, Alexey Maslov returned to Chelyabinsk, where he visited Sergei Sychev in the hospital and talked with his mother.

Sergei’s sister Marina Sycheva told Kommersant that doctors note positive changes in her brother’s condition: “He asked for juice. They gave him a little something to drink through a straw. Today his mother was supposed to give him some fruit puree. He began to talk, or rather, wheeze, and if you listen , you can make out some words. Doctors say it’s a miracle.”

According to the head physician of the emergency hospital, Oleg Makhankov, doctors have not yet established why Sergei Sychev developed gangrene. “Whether this was caused by the beatings is still unknown. We know that upon admission he had a hematoma on his leg. Now the patient has come to his senses, speaks little by little, but is not yet breathing completely on his own - the machine is helping,” Mr. Makhankov said.

Yesterday, deputies of the legislative assembly of the Chelyabinsk region created a commission to investigate the mass beating of soldiers in the support battalion of a tank school. The commission, headed by Vice-Speaker Semyon Mitelman, included deputies of two committees - on social policy and on youth affairs, culture and sports. According to the head of the commission, first of all, the deputies are going to talk with the mother of the crippled soldier: “We cannot stand aside and will do everything to help the family of Private Sychev and himself (the Ministry of Defense will also provide assistance to him. — Kommersant). Next week we will meet with representatives of the prosecutor's office to find out how the investigation is progressing."

DMITRY Kommersant-VASILIEV, OLESYA Kommersant-RATOSHNYUK, Chelyabinsk

General Sidorov is about to be fired