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The Daily Star, Lebanon
Jan 19 2015
Armenian baby becomes seventh casualty of killing spree blamed on
Russian soldier
Policemen block protesters near the Russian embassy in Yerevan,
January 15, 2015.
REUTERS/PAN Photo/Hrant Khachatryan
MOSCOW: A six-month-old boy became the seventh member of an Armenian
family Monday to die after a killing spree blamed on a Russian soldier
serving at a military base in the tiny Caucasus nation that has
strained ties between Moscow and Yerevan.
Armenia's law enforcement officials say the soldier is their main
suspect after military uniform boots with his name on them were found
at the site where six members of the Avetisyan family were killed last
week.
The baby, Sergei, died in hospital of his wounds.
The soldier's motive remains unclear. Several thousand people staged
protests last Thursday in the capital Yerevan and in Gyumri, Armenia's
second largest city where the shootings took place, demanding the
soldier's handover.
Russia's defense ministry has confirmed that a soldier went missing
before the killings, which it called a tragedy, but has given no other
details.
The incident has whipped up tension between Russia and Armenia, a
former Soviet republic which normally enjoys close ties with Moscow
and has signed up to a Russian-led Customs Union, a pet project of
President Vladimir Putin.
In a telephone call Sunday with Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan,
Putin promised a swift investigation to bring the culprits to justice.
Local officials said the suspect was being held at the Russian military base.
In 1999, a court in Gyumri sentenced two soldiers from the same
Russian base to 14 and 15 years in jail for killing two people and
wounding several more in indiscriminate firing in the city, local
media reported at the time.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2015/Jan-19/284604-armenian-baby-becomes-seventh-casualty-of-killing-spree-blamed-on-russian-soldier.ashx
Jan 19 2015
Armenian baby becomes seventh casualty of killing spree blamed on
Russian soldier
Policemen block protesters near the Russian embassy in Yerevan,
January 15, 2015.
REUTERS/PAN Photo/Hrant Khachatryan
MOSCOW: A six-month-old boy became the seventh member of an Armenian
family Monday to die after a killing spree blamed on a Russian soldier
serving at a military base in the tiny Caucasus nation that has
strained ties between Moscow and Yerevan.
Armenia's law enforcement officials say the soldier is their main
suspect after military uniform boots with his name on them were found
at the site where six members of the Avetisyan family were killed last
week.
The baby, Sergei, died in hospital of his wounds.
The soldier's motive remains unclear. Several thousand people staged
protests last Thursday in the capital Yerevan and in Gyumri, Armenia's
second largest city where the shootings took place, demanding the
soldier's handover.
Russia's defense ministry has confirmed that a soldier went missing
before the killings, which it called a tragedy, but has given no other
details.
The incident has whipped up tension between Russia and Armenia, a
former Soviet republic which normally enjoys close ties with Moscow
and has signed up to a Russian-led Customs Union, a pet project of
President Vladimir Putin.
In a telephone call Sunday with Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan,
Putin promised a swift investigation to bring the culprits to justice.
Local officials said the suspect was being held at the Russian military base.
In 1999, a court in Gyumri sentenced two soldiers from the same
Russian base to 14 and 15 years in jail for killing two people and
wounding several more in indiscriminate firing in the city, local
media reported at the time.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/World/2015/Jan-19/284604-armenian-baby-becomes-seventh-casualty-of-killing-spree-blamed-on-russian-soldier.ashx