Human rights defenders call on to investigate Vadim Kostenko's death in Syria

The family members of contract soldier Vadim Kostenko, who has perished in Syria, can receive from the state the minimum compensation only. This opinion was expressed by human rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". According to them, the circumstances of the Vadim Kostenko's death are to be thoroughly investigated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that 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."

In terms of the legal consequences of Vadim Kostenko's death, two versions are important: whether he was killed "in action" or whether he "perished not during the performance of his military duties." This was explained by Anna Kashirtseva, the press secretary of the "Mother's Right" Foundation.

"The family members should monitor the situation concerning the criminal case, since all the circumstances of the contract soldier's death can be revealed only in the course of a detailed criminal investigation," Anna Kashirtseva has emphasized.

She has also added that in case if Vadim Kostenko died not during the performance of his military duties, his family members will receive the minimum compensation only.

According to Sergey Krivenko, the manager of the project "The Citizen and the Army", the formulation reading "a person has perished not during military service" actually relieves the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the responsibility for the death of the contract soldier.

Lyudmila Doronina, the head receptionist of the "Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia" (CSMR), has noted that the cases of Russian soldiers' deaths are often accompanied by the formulations reading "a person has perished not during military service."

According to Lyudmila Doronina, the MoD uses "the formulation of 'suicide' to hide the desire to evade responsibility."

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