ST. PETERSBURG -- The Russian nongovernmental organization Soldiers' Mothers of St. Petersburg says two conscripts in Leningrad Oblast died recently due to lack of medical care, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
A representative of Soldiers' Mothers said Yevgeny Terekhov died in late December from meningitis and Denis Kuzmenko died of pneumonia on January 12. They were both from the northern Murmansk region and serving near St. Petersburg.
Kuzmenko had reportedly written home to his family that his feet were bloodied from marching and that he had fainted because of a high temperature. He had been in the army for 39 days.
Ella Polyakova, the chairwoman of the Soldiers' Mothers NGO, said conscripts often die because they do not receive proper medical care.
Members of Soldiers' Mothers said that on recent visits to several military units, they observed many soldiers with respiratory illnesses who were not receiving any medical care. They said some soldiers received onions in lieu of medicine.
A representative of Soldiers' Mothers said Yevgeny Terekhov died in late December from meningitis and Denis Kuzmenko died of pneumonia on January 12. They were both from the northern Murmansk region and serving near St. Petersburg.
Kuzmenko had reportedly written home to his family that his feet were bloodied from marching and that he had fainted because of a high temperature. He had been in the army for 39 days.
Ella Polyakova, the chairwoman of the Soldiers' Mothers NGO, said conscripts often die because they do not receive proper medical care.
Members of Soldiers' Mothers said that on recent visits to several military units, they observed many soldiers with respiratory illnesses who were not receiving any medical care. They said some soldiers received onions in lieu of medicine.
