An online petition calling for an investigation into the suspicious death of a Russian military conscript in Buryatia, a republic in eastern Siberia, has been signed by over 700 people, a significant number given the legal difficulties that any criticism of the country’s military currently can attract.
Kirill Poluyanov, 20, was found hanged in a forest outside the regional capital, Ulan-Ude, on 26 June, according to a social media post published by his girlfriend Yekaterina Romanenko on Monday in which she also said there were signs that Poluyanov had been beaten.
Poluyanov’s mother, Anastasia Poluyanova, told regional news outlet Lyudi Baykala that her son had suffered visible injuries, despite the fact that a forensic report said his body showed no signs of being beaten.
“His lips were split and his teeth were broken. I was told the pathologist had knocked out his teeth when opening his mouth. I only saw my son at the funeral, when he was already in his coffin. They hadn’t even let me see him beforehand,” Poluyanova explained.
Romanenko said that her son had complained that hazing was “rampant” in the army barracks and that Poluyanov had complained of difficult conditions and being beaten.
“He worked for days on end, getting 2–3 hours’ rest as and when he could. … He didn’t even have time to wash and shave. … It was clear that there was bullying and extortion,” Romanenko added.
The Investigative Committee listed suicide as the cause of Poluyanov’s death and refused to open a criminal case for murder, Romanenko said, accusing it of trying to “hush up” the incident.
In the first months of the war in Ukraine, Buryats accounted for 3.5% of all Russian military losses, a figure grossly out of proportion for a republic with a population of under 1 million.