A soldier who fled his unit and was detained by military police killed one of the guards escorting him back to his base in St. Petersburg, Russia’s federal Investigative Committee reported.
The private was detained after going absent from his unit in Petrozavodsk on April 15. During the escort on the evening of April 16, he distracted the guards and stabbed one of them — a contract serviceman from the same unit — multiple times with a knife. The victim died at the scene.
The attacker fled but was detained again shortly afterward. A criminal case has been opened on charges of murder committed in connection with the victim’s performance of his official duties.
The Investigative Committee provided no details about the suspect. The St. Petersburg-based news outlet Fontanka reported that the suspect is a 35-year-old contract serviceman and that the victim was 44.
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