Russia hospital blast killed desertion attempt survivors

ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia (AFP) Aug 10, 2003

A survivor of the recent suicide bomb attack on a military hospital in southern Russia said Sunday that he and some of his comrades were in the hospital following an abortive desertion attempt earlier that day. The August 1 attack on the hospital at Mozdok, in North Ossetia near the border with Chechnya, killed 50 people, and has been blamed on Chechen separatists.

According to Alexei Kakota, a soldier and survivor of the blast now being treated at the military hospital in Rostov-on-Don, five of his colleagues were hospitalised in Mozdok after a member of his unit tried to desert.

Viacheslav Inozemtsev reportedly opened fire on his fellow soldiers after they refused to accompany him in deserting their army camp.

"We told him that he could go. But he was afraid that we would tell on him," said Kakota.

As his comrades tried to disarm him, Inozemtsev opened fire, wounding five, including Kakota, before being overpowered.

Three of the wounded, including the would-be deserter, were killed in the blast.

Desertions, suicides and killings are frequent in the 1.1-million-strong Russian federal armed forces, where conditions are harsh and recruits are often subjected to bullying and violence.