Russian soldier kills two comrades in gun attack

A Russian soldier shot two fellow servicemen dead and then killed himself today, an armed forces spokesman said.

It is the latest violent incident in a military plagued by the brutal abuse of young conscripts.

The soldier, on guard duty at a military unit in the Astrakhan region in southern Russia, fired at a group of fellow soldiers, said Col. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Ground Forces.

After killing two servicemen and wounding another, the soldier turned the gun on himself, Konashenkov said.

He said the soldier’s motives were not immediately clear, and that the shooting was under investigation.

The Russian military has been plagued by bullying of young conscripts by older servicemen, which has made military service extremely unpopular.

The country’s defence ministry reported 554 non-combat deaths last year. The ministry said last year’s figure included 27 deaths from bullying and abuses by senior servicemen and 210 suicides.

Soldiers’ rights groups say that many of the suicides also result from bullying and other abuses.

All Russian men between the ages of 18 and 27 are required by law to serve in the military, but typically only about 9 per cent are drafted.

The rest avoid conscription by signing up for college, being excused for health reasons or by paying bribes.

A recently-passed law will cut the current two-year conscription term to 1 1/2 years starting this spring and then to one year beginning in 2008, but it will also cancel most existing deferments from the draft.