The Ministry of Defense has stopped publishing data on the number of non-combat losses of the Russian army on its website. In 2008, the military named the figure - 481 dead servicemen. However, according to the Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees, this figure did not include soldiers who died of injuries in hospitals or in civilian life. Injuries and wounds can be received both from suicides, road accidents, hazing, and from the consequences, for example, of hostilities in South Ossetia, but they do not fall into the list of non-combat losses. In addition, only half of the servicemen serve in the Ministry of Defense (there are also internal troops, border guards, the Ministry of Emergencies, Rosspetsstroy, etc.). Taking into account these "nuances", the Russian army loses 2, 5-3 thousand soldiers and officers annually without hostilities.
In September 2010, the parents of 19-year-old St. Petersburg resident Maxim Plokhov through the Strasbourg court accused Russia of violating the right to life. Their son died five years ago while serving in the 138th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Kamenka, known for numerous tragic incidents of hazing. When Maxim was still alive, his parents repeatedly complained to the prosecutor's office - they mocked the guy. There was no reaction, and Plokhov soon died in the hospital. Eight forensic medical examinations were carried out on the fact of his death, the results of which contradict each other. As a result, Maxim's diagnosis was never officially established, although his colleague Aleksey Dulov was found guilty of beating Plokhov by the Vyborg garrison court.
“We have no doubt that Maxim was killed, and the command and the prosecutor’s office did not try to prevent this crime,” says Ella Polyakova, chairman of the organization Soldiers' Mothers of St. Petersburg. - Plokhov's parents need to erect a monument. They understand that they cannot return their son, but they are trying for other guys who at any moment may be included in the list of “non-combat losses”. Every year we are faced with barracks crimes, which are disguised as suicide or coincidence."
Lance corporal Maxim Gugaev probably did not make it into the list of non-combat losses at all - he died in a military field surgery clinic from chemical burns to the neck and hands, injuries to the ribs and chest. Gugaev "served" in the private household of the retired general Usichev, who regularly tortured the soldier and exploited him as a slave. Gugaev was "presented" to Usichev by the unit commander, Colonel Pogudin. Gugaev spent three weeks in intensive care, and at that time someone sent him telegrams to his mother: "Mom, I'm fine."
Kirill Petrovs, who, according to the military, shot himself at the post, had serious chest injuries. About the allegedly hanged Pavel Golyshev, the parents were told that he had shown suicidal abilities while still in school. Although a few days before his death, he looked joyful on the eve of the vacation.
Army statistics show that suicides account for half of non-combat casualties. In 2008, 231 servicemen committed suicide, and only 24 people became victims of hazing. Alexander Kanshin, head of the Public Chamber's commission on military affairs, sees the main motive for suicides in unfavorable news from home: unfaithful girls, sick parents, etc. And he calls for an increase in spending on military psychologists, whose work efficiency is extremely low today. However, Valentina Melnikova, the responsible secretary of the Union of Committees of Soldiers' Mothers, does not remember a single case of suicide due to girlish betrayal, but because of the criminal negligence of the command - as much as necessary.
“Once we received information that in one of the St. Petersburg units one of the conscripts was regularly raped by fellow servicemen,” recalls Ella Polyakova. - When we arrived at the unit, the commander gave us the victim - so he knew. In another case, an escaped soldier said that in the unit he left there is a colleague who constantly cries and tries to commit suicide at the first opportunity, but the unit command does not take any measures in this regard. The information was confirmed, the guy was discharged, although the doctors do not guarantee him a return to normal life."
According to activists, the legendary Pskov Airborne Division uses their own method of prevention with escapes and suicides. The guilty paratrooper is handcuffed to his hand with a two-pound weight. And if there is no decisive correction, then the soldier may well end up in a civil (!) Psychiatric hospital in Bogdanovo.
Former paratrooper Anton Rusinov does not look like a laggard: under two meters in height, from a military family, he asked for a landing himself. But as soon as the soldier began to receive at least some money for the service, he became the object of extortion. The reason (in the army jargon "jamb") can be anything - an unfilled bed, fast or, conversely, a slow gait, etc. And when there is no way to get money, the soldiers either flee from the unit or commit suicide.
“After the second escape in August 2009, I was detained by my mother in Vologda and taken to Pskov, severely beating me on the way,” says Anton Rusinov. - When we arrived at the unit, I was covered in blood and abrasions, but they took me not to the doctor, but to the company commander, who stabbed me in the head with a bayonet-knife. Then Sergeant Kanash demanded 13 thousand rubles - he allegedly spent his money on gasoline when they were looking for me. Senior colleagues demanded 5 thousand more. I could not have money, because my salary card was taken away. As a result, they wrote on my chest with paint “I am a criminal”. I have often thought about committing suicide."
The publication of information about the non-combat losses of the Russian army in 2008 caused a flurry of responses in the press, most of which was full of negativity towards the military. During the seven years of the war in Iraq, the American combat losses amounted to 410 troops. Russia loses more due to accidents, suicides and bullying every year!
The military department reacted to this cardinally: there is still no official information for 2009. Only a few regional data are known. For example, the command of the Leningrad Military District noted with satisfaction that only 58 people died in units of the North-West, which is five soldiers less than in the previous year. But human rights activists say that little has really changed. In June 2010, conscript Artyom Kharlamov was beaten to death in a military hospital in Pechenga. The command is in no hurry to talk about the reasons. It is quite possible that Artyom, on formal grounds, will not be included in the statistics of non-combat losses, but in the report of military medicine.
