Russia says soldier killed himself in Syria

[Rasputin]

Russia says soldier killed himself in Syria

AFP
October 28, 2015, 12:56 am

Moscow (AFP) - Russia's military on Tuesday said that a soldier had killed himself while on duty in Syria, the first confirmed death of a serviceman in the war-torn country since Moscow launched its bombing campaign last month.

The defence ministry in Moscow did not identify the soldier who it said committed suicide but said the serviceman appeared to have taken his life due to problems with his girlfriend.

The official announcement came after two people close to the family of a young soldier serving in Syria told AFP that he had died from unknown causes while on duty in the country, with one of the sources casting doubt on the idea that he might have killed himself.

AFP could not immediately verify if that serviceman, identified as 19-year-old Vadim Kostenko, a career soldier from the southern Krasnodar region, was the same as the one whose death was confirmed by the defence ministry.

The government's quick confirmation of a death of a serviceman is hugely unusual and comes as world attention is focussed on Russia's bombing campaign in its Soviet-era ally Syria.

"A contract soldier who served as a technical specialist at the Hmeimim airbase committed suicide while resting after his shift," a defence ministry spokesperson said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

Citing preliminary reports, the spokesperson said that text messages found on his phone suggested he took his own life because of relationship problems.

-'Not someone to take his life' -

A person close to Kostenko's family, who spoke to AFP by phone from Krasnodar, said that the cause of his death was unclear and that he would be buried this week.

Grigory Donskikh, who served with Kostenko in Russia and knew him well, said the young soldier had gone to Syria of his own free will and he did not believe he had committed suicide.

"He is not someone who would take his own life," he told AFP, adding his body had not arrived home yet.

Deaths from mishandling of weapons, hazing and suicides are not uncommon in militaries worldwide, and have been a persistent issue in the Russian army.

But experts say that the Russian defence ministry may also cite a suicide to conceal the true reason of a soldier's death.

On September 30, Russia launched a bombing campaign in Syria, saying it needed to target Islamic State militants before they cross into Russia.

Russian warplanes have carried out sorties from the Hmeimim airbase and Russian servicemen are based there to help service the aircraft, among other tasks.

Russia insists that its ground troops are not taking part in combat operations in Syria and there have been no official reports of any servicemen dying in combat in the war-torn country.

A member of the Kremlin's rights council, who advocates for the rights of soldiers and works with the defence ministry, told AFP earlier Tuesday that he was not aware of Kostenko's death.

But the rights activist, Sergei Krivenko, said that his defence ministry sources told him "about 10 days ago" that a Russian soldier had died "at the base" in Syria.

"It was either an illness or trauma," said Krivenko, the head of the Citizen and the Army rights group.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that one Russian soldier had "died in Syria due to careless handling of weaponry."

Russian officials have previously denied accusations from Kiev and the West that it sent regular troops to eastern Ukraine to prop up pro-Kremlin insurgents during an 18-month conflict.

The state enforced a virtual blackout on reports of Russian soldier deaths in Ukraine despite multiple reports to the contrary including funerals of soldiers.

Russia's entry into the convoluted, multi-front conflict in Syria is Moscow's first major military involvement outside the former Soviet Union since the ill-fated occupation of Afghanistan in 1979.

 

[我爸是李肛=Ass Loong]

So what if thousands soldiers died? It's just fulfillment of duty being soldiers. So why need to be so interested how a soldier died? So what if he got executed by order in suspicion or proved against his loyalty. In all the wars involving USSR or Russians, huge numbers got executed pr killed by order for retreating under Nazi fire without an order.

Simple and straightforward and corresponding to doctrine.


TS is just ignorance and posted stupidity.

 

[nkfnkfnkf]

Yah it's a perfect norm if Russian military suspected that any soldiers was CIA spy, they arrange fir him a surprised farewell party, and so be it. Tell the family any bullshit, so what?

 

[nkfnkfnkf]

Your post refected a very absurdly American value, as if no fucking soldiers should ever die, and everyone should be fucking pampered and loved. When only the exact reversed is correct.

 

[Think_PAP]

Your post refected a very absurdly American value, as if no fucking soldiers should ever die, and everyone should be fucking pampered and loved. When only the exact reversed is correct.

SG peasants who had no experience better than being the jonior boy scouts in SAF under PAP BGs, are completely out of touch with reality of wars and real world. Silly childish odd expectations are completely out of places.

 

[frenchbriefs]

So what if thousands soldiers died? It's just fulfillment of duty being soldiers. So why need to be so interested how a soldier died? So what if he got executed by order in suspicion or proved against his loyalty. In all the wars involving USSR or Russians, huge numbers got executed pr killed by order for retreating under Nazi fire without an order.

Simple and straightforward and corresponding to doctrine.


TS is just ignorance and posted stupidity.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures,in similar times,SAF should also ensure there are adequate gpmgs stationed behind infantry lines to urge our soldiers forward should they decide to fallback

 

[lend me your wife]

Yah it's a perfect norm if Russian military suspected that any soldiers was CIA spy, they arrange fir him a surprised farewell party, and so be it. Tell the family any bullshit, so what?

With a lovely special gift of a very nice rope huh?

 

[tun_dr_m]

Gay faced boy, highly possible an iPhone user. Should be killed internally in the military to improve troop integrity and strength, purify spirit of combat.

 

[frenchbriefs]

Gay faced boy, highly possible an iPhone user. Should be killed internally in the military to improve troop integrity and strength, purify spirit of combat.

russians have balls of steel and made of the sterner stuff.if this gay faced boy joined the SAF,he would be instantly promoted to a commando.

 

[nkfnkfnkf]

Gay faced boy, highly possible an iPhone user. Should be killed internally in the military to improve troop integrity and strength, purify spirit of combat.

Small skull and large neck.

Need to skillfully tie a good noose to hang him properly, otherwise rope slips off his small skull and hanging will fail.

 

[nkfnkfnkf]

Desperate times calls for desperate measures,in similar times,SAF should also ensure there are adequate gpmgs stationed behind infantry lines to urge our soldiers forward should they decide to fallback

Basically it's exactly done this way.

Standing orders clearly issued, where any soldiers retreating without Stalin's orders is deem as state traitor defying a military order from Soviet commands. There are ready-executioner troops deployed behind the back to shoot traitors. Stalin told the USSR soldiers they have to die in this battle against Nazi, for those corpse found lying close to Nazi line side, they are deemed as Gloriously Sacrificed for great motherland and highly hornored, their families entitled to Soviet state awarded long term benefits. For those found dead near own lines are deemed to had been executed for cowardice and defiance of military orders. Their families will be sent to tough suffering places and humiliated life long. So the soldiers kept being reminded on how to die correctly for their loved ones.

This was exactly how Stalin turned around from defeat to victory against Hitler. He out toughed Hitler in forcing own men to die correctly.

 

[theReflex]

I say charge the bugger!

 

[war is best form of peace]

I say charge the bugger!

Wrong! Too Civilized and self-defeating. You charged him you gave him chance to talk in defence and sticks in official records. You execute him say he hanged himself is the sweetest way to send a honey dripping love letter to his boss in CIA. CIA will appreciate it much.

 

[Rasputin]

Family buries first Russian soldier dead in Syria, doubts suicide

AFP
October 29, 2015, 4:53 am

Grechanaya Balka (Russia) (AFP) - The first Russian serviceman confirmed dead in Syria was laid to rest in his native village on Wednesday as his family and friends disputed the official explanation that he committed suicide.

Authorities said 19-year-old soldier Vadim Kostenko hanged himself at Russia's airbase in the Syrian province of Latakia due to relationship trouble, but his loved ones said they would never believe he had taken his own life.

Several hundred people attended the funeral at the small village of Grechanaya Balka in southern Russia, including soldiers, defence officials and several journalists as international attention focuses on Moscow's bombing campaign in Syria.

During a funeral procession, four servicemen carried a wooden coffin from Kostenko's home to a cemetery down a muddy road, a soldier at the front holding a Russian flag with a black ribbon.

Friends and family wept as the casket was lowered into the ground with a three-shot gun salute.

Afterwards mourners laid wreaths and flowers at the grave as Kostenko's distraught mother clutched a framed picture of her son, who had recently ended his mandatory military service and rejoined the army on a contract.

- 'Not a suicide'-

The main military prosecutor's office said Wednesday that the autopsy results showed the cause of death as "suicide by hanging while off duty due to problematic personal circumstances outside the base."

But family and friends said they did not believe this version of events.

The soldier's mother was too distraught to comment so it fell upon his 14-year-old sister to brief the media.

"His body arrived last night. We saw his nose and jaw were broken, he had marks on his neck," Yekaterina Kostenko told AFP inside the family home, a brick house at 102 Soviet Street, before the funeral.

"This was not a suicide," said Kostenko, a blue-eyed girl with freckles and a long brown braid.

Svetlana Shpag, 42, a former colleague of Kostenko's mother, added: "No one believes the suicide story. He couldn't have killed himself for a girl. He wasn't one of those suicidal kids."

"The only reason he could have killed himself is if someone was about to take his life."

A defence ministry source said a priest had come earlier in the day but could not lead a service as per Orthodox tradition because the death was being treated as a suicide.

The defence ministry made the announcement after two people, including a person close to Kostenko's family, told AFP the soldier had died from unknown causes.

Experts say Moscow often cites a suicide to conceal the true reason of a soldier's death.

Genuine suicides are rare, with servicemen instead coming under "physical and psychological pressure" in most of the cases, Anna Kashirtseva, spokeswoman for the Mother's Right group, told AFP.

A defence ministry spokesman said that any suggestions pointing to possible foul play were "insinuations."

- 'They should apologise' -

People close to Kostenko's family said the young man had been encouraged by some not to go Syria and demanded an apology from the government.

"The people responsible for this should come here and apologise," the soldier's former gym teacher Stepan Bagryuk told AFP.

Kostenko was based at the Primorsko-Akhtarsk military air base not far from the village, but visited home whenever he could and was well-liked, Bagryuk said in the schoolyard where Kostenko played as a boy.

"I last spoke to him in August and he was fine."

On September 30, Russia launched its bombing campaign in Syria, with President Vladimir Putin saying Moscow needed to target Islamic State militants.

After the intervention -- Moscow's first major military foray outside the Soviet Union since the ill-fated Afghanistan occupation in 1979 -- Putin saw his approval rating climb to 89.9 percent, an all-time high, said a state pollster.

Russian warplanes have carried out sorties from the Hmeimim airbase and Russian servicemen are based there to help service the aircraft, among other tasks.

Moscow says its ground troops are not taking part in combat operations in Syria and there have been no official reports of any servicemen dying in combat in the war-torn country.