Kazakh Army has scored another incident — a soldier almost got killed in a fight. His commanders attempted to hide that fact …
Combat Chores
The family of the victim reported to Caravan.kz that the shocking incident took place in the company quarters in the morning. Doing the chores is life-hazardous – army teaches us.
Military Detachment 30238, Company Quarters. Bogdan Grinishin was assigned a chores soldier that day. His fellow soldier Alihan Dalabay was buzzing around on the clean floor, ignoring Bogdan’s attempts to keep that floor clean.
At one moment, Bogdan grew impatiens and asked Dalabay to “not walk on that clean floor, until it dries out”. Dalabay, an ex-Marine and an older soldier reacted in a brutal way – hit Bogdan on the stomach and the jaws.
Yelene Grinishina, victim’s mother reported nobody hastened to help her bleeding son. Bogdan sustained a heavy concussion and an open jaw fracture. Instead of taking him to the hospital, his fellow soldiers took him to a recreation room, to hide him from public attention. By lunch, when Bogdan’s physical condition became obviously worse, his commanders began to worry. Deputy Detachment Commander for Political Affairs took Bogdan to Emergency Hospital. Curious is the fact, that he attempted to hand Bogdan over to doctors as a civilian, not a drafted recruit.
The doctors helped the lad – they applied a splint on his jaw, but refrained from surgical operation on the fractured jaw, fearing consequences, because of concussion. The doctors did not trust that the victim was a civilian, particularly because he was next to convoyed by an army officer. The doctors called in police, police came immediately and filled in an appropriate record.
Commanding officers of the discussed detachment must have wanted to keep the incident contained, but that did not work. After the police visit, the same Deputy Commander for Political Affairs attended the hospital with an intention to take Bogdan back to quarters. Bogdan’s doctor did not allow that to happen, justifying her refusal by the fact that the hospital in the detachment did not have a facility and specialists to handle opened jaw fracture.
Truth Exposed
Bogdan’s parents learned about the incident from Bogdan, not his commanding officers. While being in the Emergency Hospital, Bogdan managed to text the situation to his father. The father immediately informed his wife and they lest their home town Satpayev for Aktobe, where the incident took place.
Prior to flight departure, Yelena managed to find out the telephone number of the officer, who took Bogdan to the Emergency Hospital and asked him why she could not reach her son. The officer stumbled for a while and then told the mother that Bogdan had his tooth pulled out. He was not aware of the fact that the mother had been informed of the incident and, apparently, was willing to hide the truth. Yelena reports that the officer looked disappointed, having learned that the mother knew the truth.
Later, it was revealed that officers attended the hospital and tried to persuade Bogdan to keep silence about that happened. Bogdan told that he already has informed his parents.
Impudence, shown by army officers in an attempt to conceal the truth encouraged Yelena to seek assistance from the Committee of the Soldiers’ Mothers. Some new details came into the spotlight.
Almost Killed Him
Yelena revealed that the conflict between Bogdan and his attacker was not a habitual soldier-to-soldier fight. The incident looks like a deliberate and brutal punishment – when Bogdan was on the floor, his attacker almost strangled him. Bogdan reported to his mother, that he was choking with blood, while calling for help. The attached was trying to shut Bogdan mouth with a floorcloth, telling him not to shout. The attack was afraid that officers would hear.
After visiting her son in the hospital, Yelena received an invitation from General-Major Ospanov, the Commande of the Military District. She was taken to the District HQ, where she had to spend several hours expecting the General-Major to see her. He never showed up, his assistants claimed that there were justified reasons why he could not come. But Yelena managed to have a conversation with attacker who traumatized her son.
Dalabay reported that he hit Bogdan, after Bogdan attacked him first with a swab. Bogdan and several eyewitnesses, in their turn, reported that Alihan, the attacking soldier, hit Bogdan first, and Bogdan hit him back with a swab. Company Master Sergeant saw the beginning of the encounter, told them to stop and left the quarters with the sense of the fulfilled duty. After that the attacker pushed Bogdan into the recreation room and beat him up there. That was a piece of cake for him – Alihan is an athletic young man.
Like Father Like Son
While talking to Alihan, Yelena was seeking to know what would happen, if the attacker had an assault rifle at the time of the conflict. She asked him a question, whether, driven by fury, he would shoot her son. Alihan was just listening and smiling. Was he enjoying the situation or was his protection from stress? The guy never showed any repentance.
Also, Yelena learned other details. Alihan’s Father, a military person and a National Security officers tried to project his influence on the Detachment Commander. He came into contact with Yelena – apologized and asked her not to ruin his son’s and to forgive him. He said that after the mandatory military service, he wanted to lobby his son’s employment with one of the security bodies of Kazakhstan, so that his son became a real man. Besides, the said individual visited Bogdan and asked him to be “a man” and acknowledge the fact that fights among soldiers were a common and casual phenomenon.
Attacker’s grandmother also tried to communicate with Bogdan’s mother. She visited Aktobe. Instead of expressing apology and compassion, she cussed out Bogdan’s parents.
The more we think about the situation, the more scared we grow. Kazakh security bodies, in additional to this particular incident, are often caught committing crimes. Tortures, humiliations, rapes, protection of dens and rookeries – and that is not the full list of their violations of law.
Judging by the fact that Alihan Dalabay showed no repentance, it appears unlikely that after forgiveness he will strive to not to break the law again. Most likely, he will enjoy that impunity, as usually happens with people like him. Who of us wants such unstable people to protect us with firearms?
One way or another, but the criminal investigation is in progress. We do not know when the court procedures will commence. Aktobe garrison MP reported that the pre-trial investigation of manhandling was in progress. This is it. Commanders of Military Detachment 30238 are silent.
All sides are waiting on next phase. Bogdan and his parents intend to bring the case to its logical end.
