The spokesperson said Sergeant Sergei Zavyalov had been hospitalized in late April with severe head injuries. Last Saturday he died without regaining consciousness.
"The Military Prosecutor's Office has opened a criminal case on charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm to Zavyalov," the spokesperson said. "We have already identified a suspect in the crime."
Earlier the Leningrad Military District said Zavyalov was hospitalized following an injury caused after he fell down on duty, as he was not feeling well.
A spokesperson for the St. Petersburg Mothers of Soldiers non-governmental organization said Zavyalov, who is apparently a victim of another hazing incident in the Russian Armed Forces, was not immediately hospitalized after he was beaten up.
"He was brutally beaten up and suffered head and spinal injuries," the spokesperson said. "Instead of receiving urgent medical treatment he was told to go and get some sleep. Sergei [Zavyalov] slipped into coma and died without regaining consciousness."
Last year the high number of casualties and hazing incidents became high-profile issues in the Armed Forces following a scandal involving Private Andrei Sychyov, who had both legs amputated after allegedly being beaten and tortured during New Year holidays at his Army unit in the south Urals city of Chelyabinsk.
