Relatives of contract soldier who perished in Syria demand repeated forensic examination

According to initial results of the check conducted by the Chief Military Prosecutor's Office of Russia, the reason of the death in Syria of Vadim Kostenko, a soldier from the Krasnodar Territory, was a suicide, said the press service of the Prosecutor's Office. Kostenko's parents do not believe in the official version of his death.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that starting from September 30, the Russian air forces are involved in air strikes on targets in Syria.

Information about Kostenko's death, who served as a technician at the air base "Hmeymim" in Syria, appeared in the media on October 27. However, the date of his death was not specified.

According to the Russia's Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, the first results of the check indicate that Kostenko had hanged himself "while off duty in connection with serviceman's adverse personal circumstances outside the military unit."

"I'll never believe in this version. Every day we talked on the phone for half an hour. On Saturday, October 24, he was in a good mood; he was laughing," said his mother Svetlana Kostenko.

His father is of the same opinion. "We were told that he had hanged himself because of a girl. He would never have done that. I know my son," the Reuters quotes Alexander Kostenko as saying.

The parents of the deceased contract serviceman filed an application to the police demanding a repeated medical examination, the "Novaya Gazeta" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.