First-year student of Odesa Military Academy found dead

Pavlo S., a freshman at the Odesa Military Academy, was found dead outside the unit. The incident is being investigated as a suicide, while the version of abuse of power is being checked.

This was reported by the press service of the Military Academy.

Cadet Pavlo S. was found dead outside the unit's location, according to the Odesa Military Academy. The management of the institution noted that it is cooperating with the investigative authorities and is simultaneously conducting an internal investigation, and a number of personnel decisions have already been made based on preliminary results.

Law enforcement officials are preliminarily classifying the cadet's death as suicide. At the same time, the institution is checking the version of abuse of power and emphasizes that if confirmed, all perpetrators will be held accountable under the law.

According to the SLON FM telegram channel, before the tragedy, cadet Pavlo S. could have been a victim of harassment at the Faculty of Military Intelligence and Special Operations Forces. Other cadets reported that five sergeants forced the boys to mix and eat canned meat with biscuits and mustard, drink oil, and eat off the floor and drink salt water, which caused nausea.

According to an eyewitness, all the platoon commanders were in the room, mocking the cadets and filming them. A senior officer of another course came to reinforce discipline and beat one of the boys, after which he committed suicide.

Two other cadets also became victims of harassment. The conflict was triggered by the cadets stealing several energy drinks from a nearby store. The head of the location, Lieutenant Colonel Kosenko, ordered a collective punishment for the entire course, but the sergeants decided that this was not enough and resorted to systematic harassment.

In August, the police opened an investigation into the death of a man whose body was found on August 18 on the territory of the fire-damaged building of the Odesa College of Economics, Law and Hotel and Restaurant Business on Troitska Street.

Анна Бальчінос