Russian Hazing Victims Sent To Moscow Hospital

Galina Sychyova, mother of hazing victim Andrei Sychyov, holds a picture of her son (file photo) (ITAR-TASS) 7 February 2006 -- A Russian conscript severely beaten up by fellow servicemen was flown to a military hospital in Moscow for further treatment today.

Andrei Sychyov had his legs and genitals amputated after he was tortured by older servicemen over the New Year holidays.

Sychyov was flown today from a hospital in the Siberian city of Chelyabinsk, where his unit is located, to the military's Burdenko hospital in Moscow. Doctors did not make any immediate comment on his condition.

The incident at the Chelyabinsk tank school created an uproar in Russia.

Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, said on 7 February that Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov will brief lawmakers on the army's hazing problem on 15 February.

(ITAR- TASS, AP)