My profile:
The chief military prosecutor said Thursday that more than 300 servicemen committed suicide last year, despite higher spending and reforms to to improve army conditions and equipment.
"Almost a battalion of military servicemen -- 341 people -- were irrevocably lost in the past year as a result of suicides," Military Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky said, Interfax reported.
Fridinsky said suicides had actually fallen from previous years but had risen as a proportion of noncombat losses.
Many young men pay bribes to be declared unfit to serve because of harsh treatment of new recruits. But Fridinsky said half of the suicides were among regular contract servicemen -- who do not face the same level of hazing.
The Defense Ministry said about 100,000 young men are exempted from conscription every year due to psychological problems, Itar-Tass reported.
Rights groups and some former commanders say the high suicide rate is caused by a culture of violence and negligence by officers and senior generals.
300 Servicemen Died in Suicides
30 May 2008
Reuters
Discussion
Comments
The Moscow Times welcomes comments from our readers and encourages you to participate in creating a dialogue about modern-day politics, business and events in Russia. In order to post a comment, you must first be registered with our site, and all comments must adhere to our comments policy.
1. Comments must pertain to the topic of the corresponding article.
2. Comments must not contain vulgarity, ad hominem attacks, slander or anything resembling hate speech.
If you have posted a comment and it does not appear within 24 hours, please contact us.
1. Comments must pertain to the topic of the corresponding article.
2. Comments must not contain vulgarity, ad hominem attacks, slander or anything resembling hate speech.
If you have posted a comment and it does not appear within 24 hours, please contact us.
Most Read
-
Online Commerce Choked by Shipping Delays
Foreign-based Internet shopping sites are drawing increasing numbers of Russian consumers looking for deals, but as delays mount at the country's notoriously inefficient postal service, many are finding that securing delivery of their items is no simple task.
-
Gryzlov Skips Critical Online Interview
In skipping the interview with Gazeta.ru, State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov missed being asked some of the more than 1,100 questions submitted by readers over the past five days over his ambitious water filtering program.
-
Rosneft Faces Export Deadlock as Yukos Attacks
Rosneft faces an export deadlock after bankrupt rival Yukos won U.S. and British court injunctions making cash payments to Rosneft in the West very complex, market sources said.
-
Russian Technologies May Miss Out on Aeroflot Stake
The six airlines handed over to Russian Technologies by presidential order in 2008 and 2009 could now be handed over to Aeroflot for management because the two state-run companies cannot agree on how to manage their aviation assets jointly..
-
Police Roll Out Plan To Improve Reputation
The Interior Ministry started a nationwide public relations campaign this week to burnish its tarnished image, posting billboards showing respectable cops and Internet ads promoting reports acts of police heroism.
-
Conoco 'to Halve LUKoil Stake'
U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips is close to announcing the halving of its stake in LUKoil and will sell 10 percent of the company within three years, a source close to the deal said Wednesday.
-
Israeli Dispute Clouds Moscow Peace Talks
A bitter dispute over Israeli settlements is clouding the chances for progress Friday at a high-level Moscow meeting aimed at advancing Middle East peace.
-
Disabled Athletes Show Up Olympics Team
Five days into the Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver, Russia's team has already left its rivals — and the Russian Olympic team — in the dust with six gold medals, six silvers and three bronzes.
-
Medvedev to Visit Ukraine in May
President Dmitry Medvedev will visit Kiev in May, returning a trip that new Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych made to Moscow this month, Yanukovych’s office said Wednesday.
-
Bringing the Money Back to Russia
The medicine to cure bad loans needs to be taken quickly, but not so quickly as to kill the patient — the bank system.
-
5 Reasons Why Russia Isn’t China
Many believe that Moscow should have copied China’s reforms. But what made China’s reforms a success was inapplicable to Russia.
-
Russian Corruption 'May Force Western Firms to Quit'
Extortion by corrupt officials in Russia has gotten so bad that some Western multinationals are considering pulling out altogether, the head of a U.S. anti-bribery group said in an interview.
-
Moscow Finishes 2nd as City of Billionaires
Forbes has released its global billionaires list, which has steel magnate Vladimir Lisin ranked as the world's 32nd richest person with $15.8 billion.
-
Sochi Olympic Workers Unpaid for Months
Some construction workers complain that they are going hungry after pawning their documents and valuables to get food at grocery stores, while sympathetic locals have organized a soup kitchen.
-
Russia Today Courts Viewers With Controversy
In a rare interview, the editor of Russia Today explains that the growing channel thrives on controversy as its provides an alternative to mainstream media, and polishing Moscow's reputation is not one of its tasks.
-
Mercedes May Help Solve LUKoil Crash
The "black box" from a LUKoil executive's Mercedes involved in a fatal crash last month will be sent to Germany for analysis, a source close to the carmaker's Russian office said.
-
Putin Sells New Delhi ‘Plane-Proof’ Reactors
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won support for Rosatom to build a dozen ultrasafe nuclear reactors in India, part of more than $10 billion in deals in energy, arms, telecoms and other cooperation signed during his visit Friday.
-
Aeroflot Passengers Stranded in New York
Aeroflot passengers complained Sunday that they had to sleep on the floor at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport after bad weather delayed their flight by more than 24 hours.
-
Medvedev Warns Ministers to Obey Orders
President Dmitry Medvedev warned federal and regional officials on Tuesday that they could find themselves out on the street for not fulfilling his orders in a timely manner, in his latest initiative to raise his profile as the country's top politician.
-
Spoof Report of Russian Attack Causes Panic in Georgia
Thousands of Georgians panicked Saturday night when a pro-government television station aired a hoax that President Mikheil Saakashvili had been killed and Russians tanks had invaded their country.
-
Hacker Arrested in Billboard Porn Stunt
In mid-January, the Garden Ring Road was choked with traffic as stunned motorists slowed down to gawp at a pornographic film playing on a 9-by-6 meter roadside video billboard. A hacker in Novorossiisk has been linked to the stunt.
-
5 Reasons Why Russia Isn’t China
Many believe that Moscow should have copied China’s reforms. But what made China’s reforms a success was inapplicable to Russia.
-
Car Crash Thrusts LUKoil Into PR Nightmare
Bloggers are seething over what they interpret as insensitive comments made by the company after one of its vice presidents, Anatoly Barkov, was involved in a car crash that killed two people. Some have called for a boycott of LUKoil gas stations and a popular rapper has written a song declaring that Barkov will go to hell.
-
Adopted Boy's Death in U.S. Stirs Russian Anger
The case promises to reignite Russian anger over U.S. adoptions, a delicate issue in U.S.-Russian relations in recent years, and could tangle efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama to "reset" ties that deteriorated under the previous administration.
-
Putin Says Pipeline to Revive Greek Economy
Greece's debt trouble may speed up construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, as Moscow and Athens vowed Tuesday to move forward on the project.
-
Finlandization of Georgia and Ukraine
Moscow has a right to protect its own security, but it does not have the right to interfere in the affairs of its neighbors.
-
Police Struggle With Bad Reputation
As public opinion polls show that police are among the country's least trusted institutions and incidents of police corruption are reported in the media almost daily, those enlisted to protect and serve struggle with their own battles to make a living.
-
NATO Caught Between Russia and the World
Moscow is concerned that NATO will transform itself into a global force operating outside its traditional theater.
-
Mr. Nyet
The Kremlin is clearly not content with its diminished power status. But one way it can still project its power globally is to be the spoiler.
-
Russian Skaters Miss Pairs Gold, First Since 1964
Monday's fourth-place finish of figure skaters Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov marks the first time since 1964 that a Soviet or Russian team has not won Olympic gold.
