Andrei Sychov

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Andrei Sychev (Russian: Андрей Сергеевич Сычёв), also transliterated Sychov, born 1986, is a former Russian soldier who served in an armored forces academy in Chelyabinsk, Russia. He was tortured by at least four fellow soldiers and a sergeant on December 31, 2005. This case caused public opinion in Russia and especially NGOs like the Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia (CSMR) to blame the current administration, in particular Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov, for tolerating the practice of dedovshchina, an organized system of hazing, inside the military ranks.

Sychev, then aged 19, was forced to squat over a bunson burner for 4 hours with his hands tied behind his back while a sergeant raped him. Other soldiers were implicated but have not been charged. The conscript, who was not able to stand after the torture, received no medical attention until January 4. When he was taken to a civil hospital he already had advanced gangrene, so doctors were forced to amputate both legs, along with his genitals, a finger, and his sphinctor. Only when one of the hospital's physicians anonymously sent a letter to the CSMR did the case become known. The Defense Minister disregarded these claims at first, but was forced to take action shortly thereafter. During the trial, an FSB agent unsuccessfully tried to bribe the mother of Andrei Sychov to drop the case. ^[1]