Command of the CMD denied beating soldier from Astrakhan

Bosses of the Russia's Central Military District (CMD) refute the information about beating in the Chelyabinsk Region of a soldier recruited from Astrakhan. As reported by Colonel Yaroslav Roschupkin, an assistant to the Commander of the CMD, the soldier, who, according to media reports, was operated on and lost his spleen, in reality, underwent a planned removal of the appendix.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported earlier that Anatoly Salin, an expert on legal issues of the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of the Astrakhan Region, said that Ivan Klemenko, 20, from Astrakhan had been taken to hospital after being beaten by an officer. According to some media reports, doctors had allegedly removed his spleen.

Colonel Roschupkin now asserts that Private Klemenko was hospitalized with a suspected acute appendicitis. "Doctors have removed his appendix; and the spleen of Private Klemenko is in the due place. For those who have doubts, we are ready to hold an independent ultrasound examination," the RIA "Novosti" quotes him as saying.

"Currently, the command of the CMD are checking, jointly with officials of the Prosecutor's Office, the military unit in question, and, according to preliminary data, 'the horrors of the military facility', described by Astrakhan human rights defenders in the press, are not confirmed," Colonel Roschupkin has concluded.