Russian Army: after Permyakov's case, requirements for recruits' mental health tightened

Russian military commissars have received new methodologies for defining the mental state of conscripts with more stringent requirements for the recruits, the General Staff of the Russian Army has announced. The decision was made after a little more than a month after sentencing the soldier Valery Permyakov for the massacre committed by him in Gyumri, Armenia, which became possible, according to the injured party, due to the lack of proper control over recruiting soldiers in Russia.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 23 the court found Valery Permyakov guilty of killing seven members of the Avetisyan family and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Permyakov was recruited and sent to the Russian military base in Gyumri, although he had been supervised by psychiatrists and, according to colleagues, was notable for his suspicious behaviour, the advocates of the casualties' successors assert.

As reported by Alexei Knyazev, the chief of the recruiting division of the Organization and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff, starting with this autumn's call, which began in Russia today, potential recruits will be examined by psychiatrists at the country's military commissariats under special methodologies.

According Mr Knyazev, in the new methodologies, the requirements for recruits are significantly tougher; in particular, their behaviour is subject to mandatory assessment. Based on the new methodologies, psychiatrists will also conduct a "special testing to determine their professional fitness," the RIA "Novosti" quotes him as saying.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.