The tragedy occurred on October 3 in the training unit in Pechi - this is near Borisov. 21-year-old Alexander Korzhych was found hanged in the basement of a military unit.
“Seniors extorted money”
Alexander was called up for service from Pinsk. He is the only child in the family, and before serving in the army, he worked as a car mechanic at a service station. Friends speak of him only positively - sociable, sociable. He did not go to the army right away - he had heart problems, several times they gave him a deferment. But in the end, in May, the commission decided that he was healthy, and he was called up for service.
Alexander's relatives do not believe that he could have committed suicide.
Sasha's parents periodically visited him, - said Alexander's friend. He talked about how difficult it was to serve him. Seniors extort money, punish, insult. A month later he was to be transferred to Slonim, and he just wanted to be patient. Several times he asked to transfer money to his card - as it turned out later, the money was needed to pay fees.
Alexander's relatives say that he asked not to report this anywhere, because "it will only get worse."
He always asked for money. Basically 50 rubles or 20 - 30, the amounts were different, - says Violetta, Alexander's cousin. - And the situation with a bank card ... The ensign took the card from him, allegedly wanted to borrow money, he had nothing to pay for the apartment. And did not return. He (Alexander. - Ed.) mentioned this in a conversation with me. And he said: “I’ll figure it out myself, I’ll go to the company commander. There is no need to complain anywhere, they will rot me.” It's very hard to talk about him... I remember how they sent a beloved child to the army. We all adored him! Especially my children - he is their uncle. And now he's gone...
It turned out that shortly before the tragedy, Alexander was sent to the medical unit - he complained of feeling unwell. But on September 26 he was returned to the unit.
Now the family wants justice. Alexander's mother has already sent an appeal to the Ministry of Defense, the Presidential Administration and the Prosecutor General's Office.
OFFICIALLY
SC: "The cause of death is mechanical asphyxia"
The body was discovered last Tuesday, and the first official information appeared only two days later. The fact of the incident was confirmed by the Ministry of Defense, but the department has not reported any details so far. It is known that the department of the Investigative Committee for the Minsk region opened a criminal case.
According to preliminary data, the cause of death was mechanical asphyxia from squeezing the neck organs with a loop from the belt during hanging. Currently, histological, forensic-chemical and other studies are being carried out, - said the official representative of the USC in the Minsk region Tatyana Belonog.
Based on the results of the initial verification activities, a criminal case was initiated under the article “Violation of the statutory rules of relations between persons covered by the status of a serviceman”. The sanction of the article provides for from 3 to 12 years in prison.
All possible versions of the causes and circumstances of the incident are checked, including the commission of unlawful acts against the deceased, hazing that could lead to conflict situations, - reported in the UK. - The investigation is taking all measures to establish the real state of affairs with military discipline on the territory of the military unit.
Ministry of Defense: “Every tenth conscript of the last two conscriptions was registered with the police”
The Ministry of Defense has taken all measures for an objective and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances of this incident, the Ministry of Defense reported. - If, in accordance with the procedure established by law, the persons responsible for the death of serviceman Alexander Korzhych are identified, they will certainly be held accountable in accordance with the legislation of Belarus.
The Ministry of Defense promised to inform the public about the results of the investigation into all the circumstances of the death of Alexander Korzhych. The ministry also noted that the draft contingent in last years worsened:
Every tenth conscript of the last two conscriptions was registered with the police. Almost two thirds of recruits were detained by police for administrative offenses. Although in the early 2000s, having a surplus of conscription resources, no persons were drafted into the army whose criminal record was expunged or extinguished. Despite the current situation, the organizational and preventive measures taken have ensured the functioning of more than 90% of military units without crimes and incidents.
STAY IN TOUCH!
The Ministry of Defense is extremely reluctant to talk about the number of tragedies in the Belarusian army. However, only in Borisov this year four soldiers were killed.
On January 19, an airborne soldier died right on the parade ground during exercises - this happened on the territory of the 72nd training center in Pechi. The Ministry of Defense does not provide details, noting only that the death "is not related to military service."
On February 10, the body of 19-year-old Pavel Starenkov, a conscript from unit No. 44540, was found in the forest. Back in November 2016, he left the unit and was considered missing for three months. Suicide was named as the main version of the cause of death.
On March 31, Artem Bastyuk died - he served in military unit No. 25849 Borisov. The day before his death, Bastyuk called his parents, asked for forgiveness and said goodbye. The next day, the parents were informed that their son was dead. The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under the article “Violation of the statutory rules of relations between military personnel, which entailed grave consequences” and began an investigation. And today, on October 12, the relatives received a decision to terminate the preliminary investigation in the criminal case - due to the absence of a socially dangerous act provided for by the criminal law.
FIRST HISTORY
Is there hazing in the modern Belarusian army?
"Komsomolskaya Pravda" learned this from the guys who recently returned from the service.
Nikita, studied in Pechi:
Serving in the army is a separate world, this is the worst place I have ever been. I served in Uruchcha, in the 120th Guards Mechanized Brigade, and studied in Pechi. In school, in terms of hazing, it's easier. Rigid charter, a step to the left, a step to the right - immediately a punishment. If you start downloading rights, they immediately send you to some meaningless job like "dig a trench from here until lunchtime." In the unit where you serve most of the time, there are fewer charters, so there are rules - there is more arbitrariness and bullying. In my part it was tolerable, although there were also some troubles. For example, after dinner there is a personal time when you can go to the store. But the sergeant, allowing you to do this, asks you to buy something for him - at your expense, of course. If you don't bring him anything, no one goes to the store for a month. For example, after lights out, doing push-ups under the bill is a constant thing.
Alexander, served in the Brest region:
The first month of service is called "quarantine" - you are going through a course of a young fighter. There is no hazing at this stage. Everything starts later. Education methods are standard. Our main "explanatory conversations" were held in the room for drying clothes and shoes. We used "pumping" - these are push-ups under the account. They pierced "plywood" (need to endure swipe in the chest. - Ed.). When a soldier has served the first six months, he is transferred to the so-called second period. The translation is accompanied by a tradition - they hit the pope with a belt. Plus, during the transfer to the next period, you need to pay money - at other times, money was not extorted from us. One guy could not stand it with us - he opened his veins. He was sent to a psychiatric clinic in Novinki. There he spent a month and a half, he was assigned a mental illness group and sent home. Especially in that situation, no one understood. In general, of course, officers are trying to fight hazing, but it cannot be eradicated.
Where should parents contact if they suspect hazing in the unit?
If the parents of a conscript soldier have suspicions that hazing is present in the unit, you should immediately contact the unit commander. Additionally, you can contact the Ministry of Defense, the prosecutor's office, the Investigative Committee, - Vladimir Makarov, head of the information department of the main department of ideological work of the Ministry of Defense, told Komsomolskaya Pravda. - Where exactly - it does not matter, these departments interact with each other, and verification of these facts will immediately begin.
BY THE WAY
In 2017, 13 criminal cases were opened
The Ministry of Defense announced the following figures. In 2014, 13 criminal cases were opened on the facts of violations of the statutory rules of relations between military personnel, including those that were not associated with violence. In 2015 - 27 cases, in 2016 - 17 cases, in 2017 - 13 cases.
OPINION
"The situation requires deep reflection"
Of course, this is a tragedy - that soldiers are dying in peacetime, - the chairman of the parliamentary commission on national security Valentin Mikhnevich. - This situation requires a deeper understanding and assessment of what happened. In any case, we need to wait until the end of the check, which is now being carried out, and only then it will be possible to talk about what happened and how to prevent such cases in the future.
Recently, in the Borisov Pechi, where conscripts (cooks, drivers, cynologists, etc.) are trained, a young guy, 21-year-old Sasha Korzhych, was found hanged. He served in the 3rd school, 3rd company, 2nd platoon.
Before serving in the army, Korzhich was a successful guy. He made good money as an auto mechanic, he had many friends, he led an active lifestyle. He would live, love - and he dies. By the way, this is the second person in a year - on March 31, another guy was found in a noose in Pechi - Artem Bastyuk. The investigation into his death has not yet been completed.
How is the death of Sasha Korzhych different from other deaths?
The fact that this case makes it possible to understand the mechanism of operation of the Furnaces themselves - the story of the Pinsk guy destroyed the whole viper that “thrived” there: the soldiers of the first period were billed for not being touched physically. Complaints by the officer led to bullying doubly.
From the stories of friends and the mother of the deceased, he is shocked.
Firstly, it turns out that the guy was found dead in some basement a few days after the onset of death. And before that, he was in a medical clinic - he drank coal with valerian against a temperature and asked his parents to send antibiotics.
Here, doctors and officers are nodding at each other, they say, they thought that the doctors had him, and they say, they say, we discharged him ...
Here is what Alexander Korzhych's mother told Nasha Niva:
“First of all, I almost could not get to Sasha during the service, it was not possible. The long meeting was on July 3rd. And if on the phone he said "Everything is fine", then he already spoke out there.
He said incredible things. That the sergeants brought prostitutes at night, announced the "Alarm" company, had fun with them themselves, and the soldiers were forced to watch. About sexual violence ... I say: so what are you there, sucking on them, licking them? What? He doesn't say anything, he says you better not know. There was a specific bill that was billed for a sense of security - 15 rubles a day. At first he resisted, but he was severely beaten. In total, 1,500 rubles disappeared from Sasha's card in an unknown direction. He asked me to send him money, I sent it. And I knew that they were selected by ensigns and sergeants, but what could I do to kill him there?
“I would take a loan if I knew. That's what everyone does there. And so, when he told me that he was tired of it, that he did not want me to bear such expenses, this all happened. He said that he would go to the company commander to "sort things out." And then they found him in a noose, and so he "figured it out", says the heartbroken woman.
“When we rushed to the unit for the body, they didn’t give it to me, they said it was “not ready yet.” I tell the commander of the unit - bring me the ensign who carried our money to you. Or did you not know anything? And let's tell him that the ensign is away, and he cannot give Sasha's phones either - they say he sold them for debts. I say: shut your mouth, scoundrel - my son gave me a kitchen for 2 thousand dollars before the army, and you tell me that he had debts here?
It died down right away, they started stalking us in Borisov. Go there, go here.
When the body was taken away, there were hematomas on it - in the groin, in the region of the liver, kidneys. And the whole head in small wounds, as if pricked with an awl. These are fascists. My mother saw the corpse and said that the Germans did not mock them in the concentration camp as much as their own here.
He didn't want to leave! His brother offered him to move to Moscow to him, there is business there, and he says - I'm a purebred Belarusian, why should I go there?
The mother also says that he was most likely intimidated by her life.
“His last call was with the question “Mother, how are you?”. And he pronounces every word like this: "M-ah-m-ah, how are you doing?" I ask how are you? Are you okay?",- the woman says through tears and can no longer speak.
As we learned, Sasha's friends were also aware of the extortion situation: they collected money and put it on his card in the same way.
Where did they go? They say, "so that they don't beat Sasha", although at first he said that all this was “for buns”, but such amounts could not go “buns”, it was clear.
It is noteworthy that Sasha had three phones: he took two of them to the army (“dialer” and a smartphone), and left a cool iPhone for a friend to keep. A card was attached to the iPhone, which Sasha gave to the ensign. According to the payments, as friends showed us, we can track the “tours” of those who used it: here they pay for something in a nightclub, here they fill up the car, here they buy something at the Borisov Arena, and now in Minsk, and here in Zhlobin.
“When I came to Sasha for the last time, he said that the company commander, yes, it seems to be the company commander, wants to buy her iPhone for 30 rubles, and then, they say, Sasha will be able to go to the “ridge” for three days, ”- told us a friend of Sasha, Ilya, who had that iPhone.
“The most cruel sergeant there was B. [name and surname available in the editorial office], nicknamed “Baran”, he adds.
As Nasha Niva found out, B. and another sergeant S. involved are now sitting in a guardhouse in Borisov. This was confirmed to us by their relatives.
By the way, Sasha's commanders also had the audacity to come to the guy's funeral. But they were guarded by the police, because the people of Pinsk were ready to tear them to pieces. “Come out here, scoundrel, I myself will cut off your shoulder straps and put you in a coffin with Sasha,” people shouted at them.
But can this happen in modern Belarus? Maybe this is just an exaggeration of heartbroken loved ones?
We talked to former and current military who were once related to Pecs.
Here is what a man told us, who completed training in Borisov in 2014, but in a different company.
“Where he [Sasha Korzhych] was, there is a f***er. Everywhere the soldiers are spread rot and officers, ensigns and sergeants. I was amazed when I arrived there and on the first day I went to the smoking room, then there the boys ran on the spot and smoked, count. I'm saying, are you fucking nuts, what are you doing? And the sergeants allegedly set a condition for them: if the body is in an upright position, then you can either walk as a drill or run.
I tell them are you serious? Can't you send them to **? And they have their eyes on the ground. But then I ran into myself. The meaning is this: if you don’t pay grandmas, you will be bent in outfits and physically. So you either set yourself up hard, or... or you pay for everything. If you want a mobile phone - 20 rubles, if you want to call - the same amount. This is called "repurchase the phone". I was also young, I didn’t understand the first time and gave money, but they didn’t return it to me. Well, it turned out that I bought it once and for all - I fought with them every day, every single day.
Salvation is only if you are an athlete, boxer or wrestler. They promised me to drop a weight of 32 kg on my head at night, count, and for this I took them one by one to the toilet and sec until they started to moan. Well, it's scary, actually. There was only one way out - to beat e ***. I never told my mother what was going on there.
There, the boys shed so many tears that it was possible to fill the lake near Borisov, ” this guy told us.
Approximately the same thing is told by another, who, as he says, “didn’t get lucky” - he was supposed to get into the special forces, but there were not enough places, and in order not to wait another six months, he agreed to the Pechi. Now he is a contract soldier where he wanted to go - in one of the units of the Special Operations Forces (SOF).
“The soldiers in Pecs call officers “jackals” among themselves,” he says. - Why jackals? Because they eat the weak. I will not say that money is brought to them, I have not seen it myself. But that the sergeants extorted money is a fact.
And there, no one speaks directly, but in hints. I immediately came to the understanding that they just need to be fucked so that they are afraid to look at you.
Furnaces are the so-called. "schmuck troops", where hazing flourishes. Compared to them, the MTR and special forces are a kindergarten. There are cameras in the MTR, but you put a camera in Pechi, preferably in the toilet - you will see enough of this there ... In winter, we leveled the snow into cubes to make it “beautiful”. Night push-ups... cuckooing, singing songs in the nightstands. What can I say about it, oh...
There is a hierarchy there, as in a zone: the first period of service cannot speak directly with the third period - everything is transmitted through the second. There are castes: "grandfathers", "scoops", "devils".
Do you know what "devils" are? This is when a person is hit on the head with a slipper thirteen times at the suggestion of sergeants, and he becomes, as it were, “lowered”. You can't talk to him, you can't smoke him, you can't go to the buffet, you can only f*** him. If physically they can’t f***, then they will f*** the weakest, who will justify themselves so that they don’t talk to you, etc. And this is supported by the "jackals". For example, in the dining room, such people are given a holey spoon so that they cannot eat soup - it simply flows out.
If someone had severe beatings, then they hid him somewhere. Under the bed, say. And instead of him, the orderly became in a row. The doctor counted everyone - and it's normal.
If you, God forbid, complained to your parents, and they went to the commanders, then you yourself almost signed the verdict, count. A “jackal” [officer] comes and says, they say, this is the mother who came, keep in mind.
But at the same time, the sergeants often went to complain to the jackals, saying that they were not being obeyed. We just drove there as a gang: the four of us immediately became friends and sent the sergeants in chorus to *** and always stood up for each other, let them under our feet a couple of times. And whoever was not friendly... When I remember how they mocked my mother's sons, I really still shake... You can't help everyone, because five thousand people serve there. If young people are being persecuted in another school, then you will not stand up for them in any way. And if you stand up once, then you will go further, and then they will be extinguished so that they will curse your help a hundred times. But how do you educate them? It's you **ki and fascists.
It should be noted that some soldiers who served in the same place as the deceased Sasha deny the existence of hazing in the form of monetary requisitions and beatings.
The current officer of one of the elite units, in whose jurisdiction the soldiers are, "academically" explained to us why this happens, that in some there is, while in others there is no hazing.
“In the army, soldiers are divided into three conditional categories,” he said: “sheep” - those who are oppressed, “wolves” - those who oppress, and “wolfhounds” - those who can repulse the wolves and protect the herd " sheep."
The percentage of these three categories in the total number determines the situation with hazing in the part where the officers don’t care what happens there. If they close their eyes, then the sergeants feel impunity, and then those who are weak in spirit end up like this. It was always said about the Furnaces that something terrible was going on there, even when I was still a first-year cadet. I would put such officers against the wall, along with ensigns and sergeants, ”- he emotionally expressed himself, since this story had already been spread by word of mouth to other parts.
It should be noted that the servicemen we interviewed emphasized the existence of tough hazing only in units where “screws” are in charge - this is military slang, which means not belonging to the elite, secondary.
The concept comes from the expression “Troops are the shield and sword of the Fatherland”, where the shield is border guards, aviation, the sword is special forces, MTR, and the screws on the shield are everything else.
The sergeant of the Internal Troops unit 3214 also shared his opinion (this is the same “sword”). He says that he believes in the stories of the late Alexander about whores in parts and requisitions.
“Well, it happens there that “grandfathers” send for ice cream, for cigarettes. The toughest thing that can be is when they catch you with nasvay (after all, some people love it), they can force you to make tea from it and drink it. Well, burp, but there will be science. And as for the Furnaces, any person in uniform knows that there is rubbish going on there. I think that this guy was hardly hanged by anyone, he just could not stand the bullying. The words of the officers that they did not know where he was for several days are rubbish and a lie. For everyone who is discharged from the medical unit, they send a sergeant for a guarantee. And they didn't know? They knew everything, they were just playing for time to invent versions, hiding the incident. Of this I am sure.”
After all these stories, we invite readers and competent authorities to answer a few questions for themselves:
1) Is such an army capable of protecting the country, where instead of taking care of functional and combat training, a soldier has a headache (and sometimes a liver with ribs) about how to pay off sergeants and ensigns?
2) Do people have the right to bear the rank of officer in whose units quitrent flourishes? Does this obrok have a pyramid scheme?
3) Why were several deaths of young people from drugs enough for the authorities to adopt Decree No. 6 and start jailing thousands of hucksters, and why do we not see a full dock for the same painful deaths of young guys in one single part?
4) Why do “political instructors” exist in such units?
5) Why does no one analyze the reasons for the situation when those who are simply not able to score above 150 points in the CT together with the certificate go to military schools from year to year?
Copy of someone else's materials
The grave of Sasha Korzhych at the cemetery in Pinsk. Photo: Euroradio
The whole city speaks about what happened in the 72nd training military unit in Pechi, 400 km from Pinsk (Brest region, Belarus). On October 3, in a unit that was once known throughout the USSR, 21-year-old conscript soldier Alexander Korzhych from Pinsk. How many soldiers hung dead in the basement of the medical unit, it will become clear only in two weeks, when the examination is over: Sasha stopped answering calls from friends and relatives on September 26th.Sasha Korzhych is the second conscript soldier found hanged in a military unit near Borisov in six months. The investigation into the circumstances of the death of the first soldier, Artyom Bastyuk, is still ongoing. The Ministry of Defense of Belarus refuses to comment “for ethical reasons” and insists that in both cases we are talking about suicide.
Conscripts who joined the army after school serve in Belarus for a year and a half. Korzhych was trained at the 72nd Guards Joint Training Center. He died three weeks before being sent to another military unit - near Slonim.
Then, on September 26, someone for the last time withdrew money from Sasha Korzhych's bank card. In August and September, relatives and friends of the soldier transferred at least 200 rubles to her. Svetlana Nikolaevna, Sasha's mother, shows us receipts from Priorbank. August 3 - 50 rubles, August 8 - another 50 rubles. Where and how did this money disappear?
"If someone had told me before Sasha went into the army that I had to pay 15 rubles a day for his life [one of his colleagues told Korzhych's friends about this unofficial fee. - Euroradio], I would have found this money, I would take a loan…- Svetlana Nikolaevna sighs. - He had $500 set aside for a car. I say: "Sasha, this money is in front of me, lying on the table, if necessary, I will bring it to you." He replies: "Don't, Mom, I can handle it."
Svetlana Korzhich, talking about her son, no longer cries. Photo: Euroradio
But every day it got harder to deal with. According to the soldier’s mother, he received about 500 rubles a month from her and from friends.
“About July 10, Sasha said that the sergeant took his bank card from him. Like, a soldier is not supposed to have a card, but if you need something, you can ask, and it will be bought. Sasha asked me to track where the money goes from his card, - says Ilya, Sasha Korzhych's best friend, who worked with him in the same auto repair shop. - I then made screenshots from Internet banking. There you can see purchases in the cafe “Warrior” [on the territory of the 72nd training center. - Euroradio] and Zvezda, and two consecutive withdrawals from an ATM for 10 rubles each. All this time the card was in the hands of the sergeant.
Now there is one ruble left on Sasha Korzhych's bank card. Yes, such an amount cannot be withdrawn through an ATM, at least five rubles.
There are many fresh graves at the new city cemetery 11 km from Pinsk, Sasha's grave - 30th sector, 15th row, 20th place. “On the day of the funeral there was such a wind that the candles immediately went out, - Ilya remembers. - A lot of military men came from Borisov by bus. I do not think that these are Sasha's colleagues. We asked them about him, and they answered with the usual phrases: "He was a good guy ...". He was buried with honors, there was even a volley in the air. And then we learned that when soldiers go on such a business trip, they are not fed at all. And Sasha's cousin, Violetta, ran to buy them cookies.
Ilya and Sasha were best friends. Photo from VKontakte
The priest refused to bury Sasha. In his death certificate, in the column “Cause of death”, the code T71 is indicated: “Strangulation asphyxia”. This means suffocation as a result of squeezing. Such a conclusion does not give clarity: the person hanged himself or was hanged. And the Church considers suicides to be sinners, unworthy of a funeral service. And it requires proof that a person died a natural death or was killed. But Sasha's relatives have no evidence. There are only versions of what happened in the 72nd training camp in Pechy.
Version 1. They staged a suicide to hide hazing
In the unit where Sasha served, there are two sergeants: B. and S., let's call them that. They say that everyone who enters the joint training center for the training of ensigns and junior commanders in Pecs is afraid of these two. Soldiers spend only three months in training, after which they are assigned to the place of further service. S. is described as more sane, but B., who is also called “Beran”, this time is enough to humiliate the conscript, take away his money and things and subjugate his will. This was told to friends of Sasha Korzhych by the soldiers who served in Pechy.
When Sasha's relatives were nevertheless shown his body (they arrived in Pechi on the night of October 4, and waited all day for the body to be "ready"), they drew attention to the bruises, which were interpreted as the results of beatings, and to the trace of the rope around the guy's neck. The trail is thick, two fingers wide, and perfectly even - as if the rope did not slide along the suicide's neck, but squeezed the neck of a person who was already dead in the noose.
Souvenir badge of the military unit where Alexander Korzhych served, and the badge of the 72nd Guards Joint Training Center in Pechy. Photo: VKontakte
We will not show you a photo of the dead Sasha Korzhych. They convince the guy's relatives and friends that he was killed. However, the pathologist consulted by Euroradio claims that it is impossible to draw an unambiguous conclusion about a person's intravital or post-mortem placement in a noose based on external signs. To do this, you need to examine under a microscope the nervous and soft tissues of the deceased, taken at autopsy.
However, the UK on hazing. In addition to using Sasha Korzhych's card, B. and S. may be guilty of embezzling the smartphone of a dead soldier. One of the officers of the training center told Sasha's mother that Sasha had sold his HTC One for… 30 rubles because he was “in dire need of money”. Recall that, according to his mother's calculations, Sasha was sent up to 500 rubles a month at that moment. The soldier's friends are told that the phone has not yet been found, although it is easy to figure it out by IMEI.
What did the conscript spend hundreds of rubles on without leaving the military camp? Was he killed to hide the answer to this question? The investigation is to be dealt with.
Version 2. Suicide of a soldier driven to despair
Sasha Korzhych joined the army because he didn't want to "mow down". “He had many plans for life. Come back from the army and buy yourself a car. Sasha made repairs at home. Positive young man, interested in cars. He liked to climb in the engines, dig into the electronics. A month after he came to us at the service station, he was already working independently, and not as a student. It was his hobby, work and life”,- tells Sergey Kozubovsky, director of Pinsk Autoshans LLC, where Sasha worked. He does not believe that a cheerful young man could commit suicide.
Sergey Kozubovsky
Sasha did not tell his friends about the problems in the unit. Just from time to time asked to transfer money to the card. And at the end of July, he began to say that they should not come to him - they say, it remains to hold out just a little bit, and there will be a transfer to Slonim. But he confessed something to his mother.
“He said that at night the sergeants bring women to the barracks and arrange orgies in front of the soldiers so that everyone looks at their“ exploits ”, - says Svetlana Nikolaevna. - He said that they put a “collar” on the soldiers - a collar with needles - and make them do menial work, clean toilets all night. But he always added that he was fine. Now I think he paid off as long as there was money.”
In mid-September, Korzhych told one of his colleagues that his debt had grown to 150 rubles. The soldier caught a cold, he had a fever and he ended up in the medical unit, and then he began to complain of pain in his heart. According to Sasha's mother, at that time she received a strange call from one of the unit's junior officers. He was interested in whether Sasha had been sick a lot before, asked to bring his card from the clinic. It is possible that the soldier was also reproached for feigning illness.
“This is not hazing, the army has nothing to do with it. This is bullshit, write like that- tells us a resident of Pinsk, who knew Alexander Kozhych. - The most reckless "grandfathers" are "collective farmers". Not the inhabitants of the countryside, not the peasants who work on the land, namely the “collective farmers”. They quickly find each other, unite and begin to crush the recalcitrant. It can happen anywhere. Sasha did not submit, he was not enough ... But he could not escape.
Version 3. Sasha was killed by a soldier who went crazy
When Sasha Kozhych's mother asked if it was possible to talk to the soldier who found her son, she was told that he was in the neuropsychiatric dispensary in Novinki. The relatives of the deceased guy recall that they went to the unit immediately after they were informed of his death, and were in Pecs at about 3:00 on the night of October 4.
“On Tuesday, October 3 at 21:23, they called me from an unfamiliar number and said:“ A suicide attempt, your son died! ”I say:“ So he died or a suicide attempt? "Well, what a suicide, when I talked to him ten days ago, and he said that he had to be patient just a little bit? We got into the car and drove to Borisov,"- says Svetlana Korzhych.
Receipt for a transfer of 50 rubles in the hands of Sasha Korzhych's mother
In front of the checkpoint, Sasha's relatives saw two cars that left the military camp within 20 minutes. Later, someone from the command of the unit explained to them that investigators and forensic experts had left in these cars.
When Sasha's friends created the VKontakte group Close to 21-year-old Alexander Korzhych, people began to write to them, one way or another connected with the situation. One such source claims that the investigation materials already contain the name of the alleged killer, established in hot pursuit. This is the same soldier who “found” Sasha hanged in the basement of the medical unit.
“He was worried that time had passed, and no one was looking for Korzhic. He admitted that the victim was able to free himself from the loop and was already testifying. And then he himself went to the basement, allegedly for a broom (although it is known that the cleaning equipment is complicated in another place), but in fact, to make sure of his own safety, ”- says the source.
The strange thing in this version is that no one was looking for the missing soldier for several days. Still, army discipline involves regular formations, and the absence of Alexander Korzhych would have been noticed. The exact date of Sasha's death was not given to the relatives. The guy's death certificate says the date when his body was found - October 3. The same date is on the cross on the grave of Alexander Korzhych at the Pinsk cemetery.
Officially, the investigation will announce its findings no earlier than two weeks later, when the results of the forensic medical examination are ready. However, in practice, the investigation of such cases takes much longer. The parents of Artiom Bastiuk, who was found hanged in one of the units near Borisov on March 31, 2017, tell ERB that the criminal case on the death of their son is still being investigated.
“During this time, seven examinations were carried out,- says Artyom's father. - But experts cannot say anything specific. Like a grandmother - in two, you understand? Maybe so, maybe so. This week, the investigators must come to a conclusion: to close this criminal case or to continue, and if we continue, then under what articles. But, apparently, nothing has been established on hazing.”
Svetlana Korzhych talks about her son
Media Polesie wrote that a conscript, 21-year-old Pinsk resident Alexander Korzhych, was found hanged in the basement of one of the military units.
Perfect Son
Sasha was kind and sympathetic, he had many friends, and he helped everyone, loved me, - Svetlana Nikolaevna began the story. - For the anniversary, he gave me a kitchen, he assembled and installed it. He had golden hands, he worked in a car repair shop, repairing cars. In the village where my mother lives, there is a large family, so Sasha bought bread for these children. And when their mother was in the hospital, he fed them and cleaned the house.
Alexander Korzhych loved life
Talking about her son, Svetlana Nikolaevna shows photographs: here is Sasha in kindergarten, at school, at sea, with friends, making faces on a trip to Germany ...
At this difficult time, Svetlana Nikolaevna is supported by Alexander's closest friends
So Sasha was in the kindergarten
Sasha had a heart disease, but he was called up anyway
Sasha did a paid ultrasound of the heart before the army, he was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse. I thought they would give him a reprieve. But on May 18, he went through all the doctors and said that he was being taken away. At first I did not believe ... I set the table for him to see off. He was worried, he said that he would become an invalid in the army. I say: “Sasha, what kind of disabled person? They go to the army to pay back their debt to their homeland.” He answered: “I go voluntarily so that I can sleep peacefully and not hide.” He made plans after the army: he wanted to open his own cafe, start a family.
On the right is Alexander's best friend - Ilya
I myself distribute summons to recruits
If I had known that this would happen, I would have sent Sasha to his grandfather in Russia or Germany to friends, where he would never have been found. We have half a house of these - they run until they are 27 years old. I myself am the chairman of a housing cooperative, and the military registration and enlistment office obliges me to deliver summonses. I betray the conscripts to their relatives against signature and then report to the military commissar.
Friends (Alexander Korzhych first from the right)
"Paid" army
After Sasha was in the training detachment in Pecs, he called me and asked me to transfer money to the card. The first time I sent 50 rubles, a day later he calls again and asks to send at least ten. I have a seller's salary, so I asked who they have there so greedy for money. And everything was listed and listed different amounts. My colleagues at work laughed: they say, what kind of army is this, that I constantly send money there. She joked: God bless them, I will work for the army.
Sasha's friends visited him in the army
Ensign took the bank card
When Sasha went to the army, there were 500 rubles on his bank card. I transferred him more than 1500 rubles. In the end, my son told me how much money you don't give them - you won't feed them. He said that the warrant officer had taken his card, that he would go to the company commander to sort it out. Then, through Internet banking, we found out that money was withdrawn from this card both day and night in different ATMs and cities. I think when he refused to pay, they began to press him.
Visit to the educational part
July 3, Independence Day, I was in the unit. On Sasha's oath, she could not take time off from work. He said: “Mom, don’t come,” but I insisted. We stood there in front of the checkpoint from 8 o'clock in the morning, they did not let us through until 11.00, they did not explain anything. There were about 30 of us, mostly women. Everyone said that it was very hard in these Furnaces. In the end, they still let us through and took us to some kind of hall. It seemed to me that this was a prison: an oppressive atmosphere, no hot water, terrible conditions in the bathroom, old toilets, screens. I think: where did I send my son? Interestingly, every 40 minutes they had a formation, and thus, we were not allowed to be alone with the children.
Prostitutes, suicide, collar with needles
After what Sasha said, I was in shock. The sergeants bring prostitutes at night, then raise the soldiers and have intercourse with these ladies in front of them. He hesitated to tell me all the details.
“Mom, I have seen enough of such horrors here,” the son said. - Once I got up at night, I went to the toilet, and there was a guy hanging there, I started screaming, three more people came running, and we saved him. Not a single sergeant even moved.
They also put a collar with needles around the soldier’s neck and force him to wash the toilet all night. My son was cleaning the sink with a toothbrush at night, and his friend in this clamp was cleaning the toilet. Maybe the Nazis didn't do that. I asked: “Sasha hold on, I will work at two jobs in order to send you this money.”
And he asked: "Mom, I beg you, don't come here again."
A strange call from a lieutenant and a referral to a psychiatrist
One day a certain lieutenant called me from Sasha's unit and began to inquire about my son's health. He asked what problems he had. He asked me to go to the clinic and take Sasha's medical card. There was some talk about simulation. I told him that all medical examinations are in his personal file, and they should be in the unit.
When we arrived to pick up Sasha, we were told that he was taken to Borisov to see a psychiatrist, who diagnosed that his son was healthy.
WITH best friend Ilya
Valerian for all diseases. hospital bill
Usually, every Saturday and Sunday, my son called me, at least at half past eleven at night. Sometimes - from under the pillow so that the phone is not taken away. Lately, he didn't talk about himself, he only asked how I was doing.
Then it turned out that he had a fever of more than 39 degrees, he was put in a medical clinic for ten days. They did not treat anything, they gave a valerian tablet under the tongue. Sasha called and asked to send antibiotics. During the call, someone told him to send good sweets and the like. We folded the parcel and sent it, where it disappeared - it is not known. By the way, his sergeants said that Sasha would not hide in the “hospital”, and billed him 15 rubles per day.
The son did not call for a long time, then - the terrible news
Sasha recently for some reason started calling me not from his phone. And then he stopped altogether, there was no call from him for more than eight days. I felt uncomfortable and wanted to go. If I had known that this would happen, I would have found more money, let them choke.
On October 3, after nine in the evening, the phone rang: “Colonel such and such. Are you Sasha Korzhych's mother? We will bring his body to you."
I said that I would come myself and want to see for myself under what circumstances this happened. We quickly phoned Sasha's friends and immediately left for Pechi.
in training
Furnaces
We were already in Pecs at about three o'clock in the morning. In training, we did not expect that we would arrive so quickly. For about forty minutes they kept us at the checkpoint, asking why we had come and all that. Then, after all, one of the commanders spoke to us.
I immediately began to say: “Bring this ensign, I brought him another salary card.” In response to me, they say, he has been gone for a month, he is on vacation and has gone far.
Then I asked why my son was not allowed to make phone calls, I began to demand to show me Sasha's phones (one push-button, the second expensive smartphone). The commander said that my son sold the smartphone for 30 rubles.
It turned out that Sasha was discharged from the medical unit on September 26, and they found him hanged in the basement on October 3. But this is an army! Even if a soldier disappears from sight for 10 minutes, they are already looking for him.
I began to demand to show me the body of my son. To me in response: "It is not ready yet."
"Dog Death" The main version is suicide
On that day, we never managed to see Sasha's body. We spent the night in Borisov, and only on October 4, at about 17.30, they showed it to us. Sasha lay in military uniform, we demanded that he be undressed, but we were refused. A traumatologist we knew was with us, he drew attention to the strangulation furrow (trace from the noose) and said that Sasha was strangled because it was the same around the entire circumference of the neck. When a person hangs himself, this mark is more pronounced in front, because the pressure of the loop is less from the back of the neck.
Sasha's colleagues said that the sergeant demanded 150 rubles from him for a "hospital", the son was crying because he did not know where to get the money. Sasha was found hanged, he had a T-shirt on his head, his legs were tied. They have such a ritual - it is called "dog death". The soldier who discovered him was immediately sent to a psychiatric hospital in Novinki, probably so that they could not take his testimony.
In this part, the soldiers are afraid to tell something. They say that then they will lie next to Sasha.
The investigator immediately said that there was nothing criminal in this case, a suicide. He asked what, maybe, son computer games was fond of, about unhappy love. I said that I did not believe in suicide, that Sasha had been ill with computer games as a child, and as for girlfriends, there were so many of them, but there was no fatal love.
There were beatings on Sasha's body
We wanted to take him away, but the military did not allow it. They brought it themselves. The commanders have arrived. Half a microdistrict gathered in the yard. Everyone knew Sasha, he was sociable, he helped everyone, he repaired cars. No one believes that he laid hands on himself. These commanders were reproached that Sasha was killed in their unit ... The police guarded them.
We decided to dress Sasha in a suit, in his favorite things and invited an employee from the funeral services office to help. He immediately drew attention to hematomas on the forehead, in the groin and on the abdomen on the right side.
In the Pinsk diocese, they did not allow Sasha to have a funeral, because the cause of death was suicide.
I don't believe in suicide. People in uniform should be punished
Sasha refused to pay and they killed him. These men in uniform are responsible for his death. They should receive their deserved punishment. They also have children. What kind of army do we have? Sasha's colleagues told me that the price of one day of life in this school was 15 rubles, so I had to make an advance payment so that he would not be touched. If there are such orders, then it was necessary to call the parents and say that if there is no money, then your child will be beaten and probably killed.
It seems to me that Sasha is still serving in the army, I set myself up in such a way as to hold on. I won’t leave it like that, I wrote a seven-page letter to the Presidential Administration, turned to hotline Ministry of Defense, we will apply to all authorities to find those responsible for Sasha's death.
Alexander Korzhych. Photo - VK
On Tuesday, October 3, in the basement on the territory of the military unit in Pechi, the corpse of a military serviceman Alexander Korzhych was found. The official version of death is suicide. But his friends are sure that Alexander became a victim of hazing.
Information about the death of the “conscript” in Pecs appeared on the Internet at the beginning of this week. Information about the suicide of a soldier in the Borisov region was officially confirmed by the Ministry of Defense, but they refused to give the name of the guy and the details of the case.
Later it became known that we are talking about a 21-year-old native of Pinsk Alexandra Korzhych. He was drafted into the army in the spring of 2017, the guy got into military unit in Pechi, near Borisov.
Now the Investigative Committee is conducting an investigation into the fact of death in Pechi.
“During the inspection of the scene of the crime, no signs of a criminal nature were found by the investigation. The data obtained as a result of the initial activities allow us to consider suicide as the main version, ”Tatiana Belonog, a representative of the IC, told TUT.by.
“He said that hazing in Pechi is terrible”
Meanwhile, friends of Korzhych question the previous version of the investigation. Resident of Pinsk Irina, who has been friends with Alexander for almost 10 years, does not believe in suicide.
“He said that hazing in Pechi is terrible, they bully as best they can, they take everything away. He had a phone and a smart watch, they were not found after his death - they say that he seemed to have sold all this due to lack of money. This is ridiculous, he did not need money, he was transferred enough to a bank card.
He has always been strong man. In a conversation, he himself said: a little more patience and they will be distributed to Slonim. Not a single thought of suicide was said, and I did not even hear a note of something in his voice. Sasha was a very cheerful person in life, he was always ready to help, he was very friendly, everyone loved him. He loved his parents madly to do this to them, ”the girl said in an interview.
Alexander Korzhych. Photo - VK According to Irina, the relatives did not want to bury Alexander in military uniform, and when they changed his clothes at home, they were shocked by what they saw: there were large bruises on the body above the crotch, abrasions on the head. Also, the relatives were embarrassed by the suspiciously even mark from the noose around the neck. “If a person hangs, then he simply cannot have such smooth contours”- adds Irina.
The girl claims that Alexander did not have a personal problem (unhappy love, family conflicts, etc.), due to which the guy could commit suicide.
"Hazing – It doesn't have to be physical abuse."
Journalist of "Narodnaya Volya" Roman Vasyukovich, who himself served in the Belarusian army a few years ago, considers the version of the murder not very likely.
“Of course, anything could happen, but it’s hard for me to imagine that the guy was killed. Usually in the barracks (at least that's how it was for me) hanging sentences for soldiers in recent years for hazing – there terms of 3 to 7 years just for a few strokes. This is a serious deterrent. In addition, the army regularly conducts reviews on the subject of bodily beatings, so it is almost impossible to hide the violence, and even more so the murder. But the "grandfathers" could be simply inadequate: perhaps they really beat, but they overdid it and then imitated suicide. Violence is not candy – you won’t fall asleep exactly, ” – noted the journalist in an interview.
Roman Vasyukovich But it is more likely, according to Vasyukovich, that Korzhych was driven to suicide by "grandfathers":
“Hazing is not necessarily physical violence, it is primarily psychological violence. Most likely, the guy was broken in the barracks. The worst thing that can happen to a "conscript" of the first period of service is when you were not accepted into the team and you found yourself in isolation. You are an outcast simply because you missed the standard several times, badly shaved or something. “Grandfathers” have little left to serve and they are already blowing their minds. "Grandfathers" put pressure on the guys who came to serve at the same time as you - so, they say, you have such a person, influence him, and if you do not influence, then you will also have trouble. When you are left alone and no one even talks to you, it is psychologically very difficult. And it's not the guy's fault. But I am convinced that officers should prevent such things, they should have noticed the conflict. If he hanged himself not because of unhappy love, but because of hazing, then this is the direct incompetence of the commanders. After all, the “conscript” is in the team 24 hours a day, he is constantly in sight.”
“No matter how they fight hazing, as long as there is a “term”, hazing will remain, since the difference in periods of service remains. In the meantime, the officers will shift their duties to the soldiers of the 3rd period (i.e. grandfathers), then we will receive such tragedies, ”says Vasyukovich.