Russian Army soldier killed by higher-ranking soldier

[Larry1]

When I noticed this article about a soldier reportedly being hit over the head with an iron flask  and killed by his superior it reminded me of some other stories about extreme corporal punishment in the Russian Army. The phenomenon is called "Dedovshchina".

A 19-year-old Russian army conscript who was serving the last few days of his compulsory military service at an airbase in the Chelyabinsk region has died nine days after he was beaten over the head with an iron flask by his immediate superior, Interfax reported on Thursday.

The conflict broke out when the senior soldier, identified in media reports only by his last name Zainutdinov, ordered the conscript, Denis Ovodov, to clean up an area on July 2, according to Alexei Kovalev, adviser to the local human rights ombudsman.

“After hearing the soldier's refusal, his supervisor hit him over the head with an iron flask at least three times,” Kovalev told Interfax.

Following the attack, Ovodov fell into a coma and never regained consciousness. A criminal case has been opened by local military investigators into exceeding official authority with the use of violence leading to serious consequences. If found guilty, Zainutdinov faces up to 10 years in prison.

Hazing by senior soldiers has plagued the Russian army for decades with multiple cases of suicides and fatal beatings. After several high-profile incidents in which draftees died, the Defense Ministry launched a campaign against the problem. In August, Russia's military prosecutor claimed that the number of hazing cases had decreased by almost a third in the first half of 2014, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta government newspaper reported.

http://tinyurl.com/Dedovshchina

A sergeant was prosecuted for inflicting an injury on a subordinate that resulted in him having his legs and genitals amputated:

The details are trickling out in a windowless courtroom here in a trial that has illustrated the darkest aspects of Russian military service and exposed the commanders’ refusal to address them, despite public pledges to the contrary.

A sergeant, possibly drunk, meted out punishment to a younger soldier, Pvt. Andrei S. Sychyov, who, like him, was a draftee. Rousted from bed at 3 a.m., Private Sychyov was forced to squat for three and a half hours. When he complained, as the pain worsened, the sergeant stomped on his ankle twice.

The episode might have ended there, an unremarkable instance of an abusive system of discipline known as dedovshchina, or the rule of the grandfathers. But Private Sychyov suffered injuries that resulted in infection, then in the amputation of his legs and genitals and finally in a public scandal.

Private Sychyov’s fate forced initially dismissive leaders, including the minister of defense, Sergei B. Ivanov, to respond to the furor. They vowed to punish those responsible and to crack down on such abuse.

The trial, however, has cast doubt on the military’s prosecution and showed how deeply rooted dedovshchina (pronounced de-DOV-she-na) remains in Russia’s barracks, still largely filled with conscripts despite overwhelming opposition to the draft.

The prosecution’s case against the sergeant, who is charged only with exceeding his authority, appears to be faltering.

One witness who testified against the sergeant recanted and stopped appearing in court. Others have reversed statements to investigators that they had seen or heard what happened. Witnesses revealed in court that an army general had told three soldiers not to testify at the trial, though they defied him and testified anyway.

Private Sychyov’s mother, Galina, said she had received repeated offers from an unknown official with free access to the grounds of a military hospital to drop the case in exchange for an apartment and $100,000. The official stopped, said her daughter, Marina A. Muffert, only after the family complained publicly.

Spokesmen for the Ministry of Defense and the military prosecutor declined to discuss the accusations of bribery and the general’s attempt to pressure witnesses, though the new military prosecutor, Sergei N. Fridinsky, has vowed to investigate.

The chief military prosecutor, Aleksandr N. Savenkov, had called it the most “cynical and audacious crime” he had seen in his career, but he was replaced last month in a shake-up of the Prosecutor General’s Office. His successor boasted on Aug. 4 that incidents of dedovshchina had declined, contradicting statistics provided the same day by his boss, the new prosecutor general, Yuri Y. Chaika.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/world/europe/13hazing.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

There are even reports that young soldiers are being forced into prostitution to provide money for more senior soldiers. http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/15-02-2007/87441-army_prostitute-0/

According to the rights group Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, conscripts at an army base in St Petersburg were compelled to perform sexual services for influential middle-aged clients, among whom was a former general in the FSB intelligence agency.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/14/russia.lukeharding

[Miquel Westano]

I was in the US service in the 70's and occasionally physical discipline was used by senior enlisted against subordinates to settle disputes of a petty and often personal nature.  I can remember a few bloody noses or an occasional black eye, but never an instance of life threatening or even severe injuries.  Punishment with intent of correcting a problem and/or insuring discipline is different from abuse for the sake of abuse.

In the instances I speak of in the military, the minor disputes could have been settled with more formal and permanent methods.  Charges could have been filed resulting in formal military discipline such as stockade or brig time, loss of rate and loss of pay.  These would have been considered by some more humane, but by others as much too long reaching and career damaging.  A lot of promising careers could have been permanently tarnished.  Those careers were often spared with the hands on approach by old school NCO's.

The biggest issue with corporal punishment lies in the application of common sense and restraint.  I would never advocate abuse.  But, as the consequences of poor decisions and improper actions are removed, the frequency of both of these will continue to increase.  As these increase many lives can be lost due to careless or indifferent mistakes. 

The hot stove is and always has been the best teacher.  I don't advocate beating a subordinate to death with a flask, but I don't advocate completely removing corporal punishment either.  A military unit must have discipline and respect to function properly.  It is not an entity that can run on kindness, friendship and sportsmanship.  The purpose of a military force unfortunately is to ultimately wage war and take lives.  This type of purpose lends itself to harsher operating procedures than most endeavors, and thus harsher discipline.