Military Intelligence

national | miscellaneous | news report Friday November 29, 2002 14:08 by r

Soldier on magic mushrooms kills eight comrades 29/11/2002 - 12:54:31 PM

A Russian soldier under the influence of ‘magic mushrooms’ opened fire on fellow servicemen today, killing at least eight of them and wounding three others.

It was the latest in a string of shooting sprees in the nation’s demoralised military.

Denis Solovyov fired his Kalashnikov assault rifle at a tent where his 11 comrades were resting while deployed on patrol at Russia’s border with Georgia in the Caucasus Mountains.

Some of the victims were killed on the spot and others later died of wounds in hospital.

Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Kolodkin said that a preliminary investigation indicated that Solovyov was in a state of narcotic intoxication.

Other officials said that Solovyov might have eaten hallucinogenic mushrooms before the shooting occurred. The so-called magic mushrooms and grasses grow in the area.

Shootings, desertions and suicides have plagued the Russian military, where discipline and low morale are serious problems along with underfunding and poverty among servicemen.