Volgograd: victim of army hazing adjudges 50,000 roubles from MoD

The Volgograd Regional Court has ruled to collect 50,000 roubles from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) in favour of the former conscript, who was abused by his commander during his military service.

The former regular soldier wrote in his lawsuit against the MoD and his military unit that on July 14, 2011, his platoon commander ordered, on the grounds of his personal enmity, to wrap a fire hose around the soldier's body and ordered to turn on the water supply. When the hose under the water pressure squeezed the neck and the body of the soldier, he fell to the ground from suffocation and pain and began losing consciousness. Only then, the captain ordered shut off the water and allowed to unwind the fire hose, says the press service of the Volgograd Regional Court.

On August 29, 2012, the Volgograd Garrison Court sentenced the platoon commander to three years of conditional imprisonment with a probation period of 1.5 years. However, the Dzerzhinsky District Court dismissed a claim for compensation of moral harm.

Only on May 6, 2014, the judicial board on civil cases of the Volgograd Regional Court, where the claimant had lodged his appeal complaint, decided to recover 50,000 roubles from the MoD in favour of the victim.