Tag Archives: Russian
Russian boy, 7, kills brother, 4, with grandfather’s rifle
MOSCOW |
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A 7-year-old Russian boy told investigators he had shot and killed his 4-year-old brother by accident with their grandfather’s rifle on Sunday, law enforcement authorities said.
The boy said he and his brother had found the gun under a bed in their grandparents’ house in the Siberian town of Bukachacha and were playing with it on the porch while the adults slept, the federal Investigative Committee said.
The boy said he accidentally pulled the trigger while trying to take the gun out of his younger brother’s hands, the committee said. Authorities earlier said they suspected someone had shot the younger boy from outside the enclosed porch.
The Investigative Committee said authorities would open a criminal case, apparently against the grandfather, on suspicion of illegal possession of an unregistered rifle.
Raging official assaults player in Russian reserve soccer match
MOSCOW |
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Match officials often face a torrent of abuse from angry players and on some occasions the attacks can turn violent.
Rarely are the roles reversed, yet Chechen linesman Musa Kadyrov lost his composure in a Russian fixture on Sunday and launched a vicious assault on one of the players.
The incident occurred at the end of a Russian league reserve game in Grozny between Amkar Perm and local side Terek when a raging Kadyrov dropped his flag and ran onto the pitch, attacking startled defender Ilya Krichmar.
“The ref blew the final whistle and I started walking to our bench, when suddenly someone came from behind, pushed me to the ground and began kicking and punching me,” the 18-year-old Amkar player told reporters.
“Terek players then joined the attack. Someone grabbed me by the throat, another hit me… bloodying my face.
“Thank God, my team mates came to the rescue. Special thanks to Vlasov from Terek. We had known each other from a youth academy in St Petersburg and he helped me escape.”
Kadyrov said Krichmar had insulted him but the player denied the allegation.
“We weren’t happy with the officiating, words had been exchanged but I had never said anything personal about him or his mother,” he said. “I know how sensitive Chechen people are.”
Former FIFA referee Alexei Spirin, who was working as an assessor of Sunday’s match, was left shocked by the episode.
“In all my refereeing career I have never seen anything like it. This guy (Kadyrov) should not be a referee,” Spirin said.
“He had no clue about rules, even worse, attacked a player. On a scale of one to 10, I’d give him a zero and I’m writing a special report. He should not be allowed to officiate again.”
Krichmar was asked if he would attend the Russian Cup final in Grozny on June 1 if invited by Chechen officials.
“No, I would not go. I could still feel some hatred there after the (Chechen) war, although we had no problem with security in Grozny,” Krichmar said. “We always had bodyguards with machine guns around us. The food was good as well, but…”
Sunday’s incident was the latest in a series of violent attacks on players in Russian soccer.
Krasnodar striker Spartak Gogniyev suffered a broken nose and fractured ribs after being attacked by Terek officials at a reserve game in Grozny in November 2011.
Gogniyev was handed a six-game ban and $ 1,600 fine by the Russian FA for pushing the referee. The world players’ union FIFPro, however, slammed the decision to punish the player.
Former Montenegro striker Nikola Nikezic lodged a complaint with FIFA and UEFA in 2011, saying he had been forced to end his contract with Kuban Krasnodar after being beaten up and threatened with a gun.
(Reporting by Gennady Fyodorov; Editing by John O’Brien)
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
Russian serial killer sentenced to life for nine murders
MOSCOW |
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian serial killer who butchered his nine victims with a knife and hammer, and said he ate the hearts of two of them, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.
Prosecutors said Alexander Bychkov targeted alcoholics and the homeless out of disdain for their way of life, lured them into deserted areas, killed them, dismembered them and hid the body parts.
They said he described all nine killings in a journal with the words: “The bloody hunt of a predator born in the year of the dragon,” state-run news agency RIA reported.
A court in the Penza region convicted the 24-year-old, who sometimes called himself “Rambo”, of nine murders between September 2009 and January 2012.
Bychkov was arrested last year on suspicion of stealing 10,000 roubles ($ 320) and merchandise from a hardware store, but was charged with the murders after investigators found evidence.
RIA said he told authorities he had eaten the hearts of two victims, but he was not charged over that because there was no evidence to prove it. ($ 1 = 30.8955 Russian roubles)
(Writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Pravin Char)
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
Russian alcohol crackdown topples monument to vodka
A handout picture shows a monument in the shape of a vodka bottle in the Russian Urals town of Glazov June 15, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Aliona Chudanova/Handout
MOSCOW |
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian monument to a bottle of vodka has been toppled over fears that it could be seen as an illegal advert for the country’s favorite tipple.
The three-meter metal sculpture had become a local landmark in the Urals town of Glazov, 1,000 km (600 miles) east of Moscow. But residents woke up one morning last week to discover it had disappeared, leaving only an empty plinth.
The bottle’s fall reflects a new, sober spirit of the age in Russia under President Vladimir Putin, a judo blackbelt who rides, flies and dives for the TV cameras but is rarely seen raising a glass – unless to toast a billion-dollar oil deal.
Putin signed a ban on all alcohol advertising in July last year, while other laws have banned sales of alcohol from street kiosks or after 11 p.m. at night.
Initial reports suggested that local authorities were behind the disappearance of the memorial, erected 13 years ago to mark the centenary of the local Glazovskiy spirits factory.
But factory bosses later told local media they had decided to remove the monument from public view over fears that it could fall foul of the strict new advertising laws.
“The bottle monument…might be considered as an advert for our products. For this reason, a decision was taken to remove it,” Dmitry Pozdeev, the head of the factory’s legal department, told local media. The sculpture was moved into the factory.
Russian media suggested anti-drinking campaigners might have more work left to do in the region. They pointed out another sculpture to meat dumplings – a popular Russian drinking snack – is still standing in the regional city of Izhevsk.
(Reporting by Sonia Elks; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Oliver Holmes)
- Tweet this
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
Comments (11)
“11pm at night” is redundant.
@kestrel27…I couldn’t agree more.
There’s nothing wrong with holding progressive ideals and living by them.
What is wrong is imposing your own beliefs upon the free will and rights of others; something which is, ironically, REgressive…
Russian “sleeping judge” resigns after video exposé
MOSCOW |
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian judge has resigned after a video apparently showed him asleep during a trial that ended with him sentencing the defendant to five years in a penal colony, Russian media reported on Friday.
Critics of the Russian justice system, which has a notoriously high conviction rate, were outraged when the video purporting to show judge Yevgeny Makhno sleeping through a defense lawyer’s speech in court was posted online in January.
“The Judges Qualification Panel accepted Makhno’s resignation from his judge’s post,” regional judge and panel member Valentina Pozharskaya told state news agency RIA Novosti.
The film, allegedly shot during a fraud trial last July in the far-eastern town of Blagoveshchensk, seems to show Makhno slumped in his chair fast asleep with his head cocked to one side.
The businessman sentenced to five years hard labor will have a new trial on February 14 after an appeal was lodged over the “unjust” sentence, Russian media said.
Russia’s justice system has been in the spotlight recently over several high-profile court cases including the trial of punk protest collective Pussy Riot.
The band’s three members were sentenced to two years in prison on charges of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred after they performed an anti-Putin prayer in Moscow’s main cathedral in 2012, which Russian and foreign commentators called excessive.
Makhno will eventually be able to return to his post provided he retakes his exams, Russian media said.
(Editing by Douglas Busvine and Sonya Hepinstall)
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
The Russian people will just figure a way around the law and the Russian version of “Liberalism” in action and keep drinking vodka. What I find amazing, is how people worldwide, set themselves up as arbiters of what people can and cannot do and try and control everyone else’s behavior. They’re called Progressives, yet they are always pointing the finger at everyone else and accusing them of doing what it is they’ve done.