MOSCOW, February 6 (RIA Novosti) - A serviceman in southern Russia shot to death two fellow soldiers and wounded a third before turning the gun on himself, a high-ranking military official said Tuesday.
"On Tuesday, February 6, in one of the detachments of the North Caucasus Military District in the Astrakhan Region, a military serviceman opened fire on his fellow servicemen while relieving the guard," Colonel Igor Konashenko, an aide to the Commander of Land Forces, said.
Konashenko added that the attacker later shot himself.
"Three people, including the assailant, were killed and one was injured in the incident," he said, adding that prosecutors were investigating.
The Defense Ministry earlier reported that 554 servicemen died in the Russian Armed Forces in 2006, a 50% decrease, year-on-year, in the number of service-related deaths. Of those, 210 committed suicide, and 27 died in hazing attacks.
Violent hazing incidents, which had previously been covered up, became high-profile scandals in the Armed Forces a year ago following a tragedy involving Private Andrei Sychyov, who had both legs and his genitals amputated after being tortured during the New Year holidays at a tank academy in the south Urals city of Chelyabinsk.
