Russian military forces last week at the tank school in Chelyabinsk, where the most recent case of severe hazing occurred (ITAR-TASS)
2 February 2006 -- The case of a second Russian army conscript beaten so badly he needed both legs amputated emerged today.
Lidia Sviridova, who works with a regional group of soldiers' mothers, says that Evgeni Koblov was badly beaten by other soldiers while doing his national service in Khabarovsk in Siberia on 1 May 2005, and had to undergo a double amputation the following month.
Military prosecutors have opened an enquiry.
Another young conscript, Andrei Sychev, also had to undergo a double leg amputation after being beaten for three hours on the night of New Year's eve. He was left without medical attention for three days, during which time gangrene set into his lower limbs and genitals, which also had to be removed.
The Sychev case prompted outrage in Russian media about the tradition of hazing, which usually involves first-year conscripts being bullied by their second-year colleagues and more senior officers.
Prosecutors said 12 soldiers have so far been held over the Sychev incident, including the academy's director.
(AFP)