In an open letter released on Thursday, the Russian conscript, who killed eight people at a Siberian military base in October, claimed to have acted because of the "hell" of the hazing he was experiencing in the military.
Last October, Ramil Chamsoutdinov opened fire on soldiers at his military base in the Chita region of eastern Siberia, killing eight people and wounding several others.
"I couldn't bear the abuse anymore"
The Ministry of Defense had then advanced the track of a "crisis of nerves", by excluding that the incident could be related to the military service, compulsory and lasting one year for the men aged from 18 to 27 years in Russia. Ramil Chamsoutdinov, 19, is now facing life in prison for "mass murder".
"I regret not being able to restrain myself and having chosen an extreme measure, but I had no choice," he pleaded in his open letter posted on social networks and whose authenticity was confirmed by his lawyer, Rousslan Naguiïev. The conscript claims to be a patriot and to have thought of becoming a professional soldier. "But I didn't expect that I would end up in such hell," he says. "I couldn't bear the abuse anymore."
Very frequent hazing rites
Hazing was one of the most serious problems in the Russian military in the 1990s, although the situation has improved significantly in recent years. According to human rights NGOs, hazing rites are still common in Russia, where a significant part of the population escapes, in particular not to be confronted with it, from military service by various means.
Lawyers for Ramil Chamsutdinov say he was the subject of death threats from other soldiers, including that of "drowning in the toilet". According to lawyer Rousslan Naguiïev, the investigators opened a separate investigation after the incident into the alleged hazing that targeted Ramil Chamsoutdinov and several other conscripts.
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