Russia military prosecutor reports widespread abuse in armed forces News
Russia military prosecutor reports widespread abuse in armed forces

[JURIST] Russia's Chief Military Prosecutor on Monday told the Federation Council [official website], the upper house of parliament, that approximately 6,000 people were abused by Russian military personnel last year and 2,600 soldiers were convicted of abusing other soldiers [JURIST report]. Alexander Savenkov said that "beating has become a typical method of dealing with subordinates in the military," and referenced one soldier who escaped from his unit [Itar-Tass report] last month after being beaten by his sergeant in a hazing incident. The sergeant confessed to the beating and was arrested, but the victim suffered severe frostbite during his two-day walk from the unit and is facing amputation. Russia's liberal politicians and human rights groups have called on the government to end the country's long national history of military conscription [HRW backgrounder], which currently requires Russian men to serve at least two years between the ages of 18 and 27, but the Kremlin has so far refused. AP has more. MosNews has local coverage.