Russian Military Prosecutor-General Sergei Fridinsky says that more than 500 violent crimes have taken place in the Russian army since January, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reports.
Fridinsky said on March 25 that two soldiers have been killed and more than 20 injured as a result of the crimes. He said 23 criminal cases, six of which were serious offenses, were initially covered up by army commanders.
Fridinsky said he is worried by the 16 percent increase in the rate of crimes related to hazing and violence in army barracks thus far this year compared to 2010.
He added that investigations have shown that the recent cases of violence in the army are increasingly found to have ethnic motives.