A military commissar in Primorye has died in a possible suicide

Roman Malyk, military commissar for the city of Partizansk in the Russian Far East, who was responsible for mobilization and enlistment in the region, died in the evening of October 14. The Partizansk city administration reported the death on Russian social media network VKontakte.

“The heart of a strong and courageous man, who went through many ‘hot spots’ but who never broke under the weight of difficult military events and many losses, has stopped,” reads the announcement, which calls Malyk’s death “tragic.”

Local publication Vremya Peremen reports that the commissar’s body “with signs of suicide” was found “on a fence.” The Telegram channel Mash reports that Malyk’s body was found “near a fence.” Police are investigating the possibility of suicide as well as murder. Those close to Malyk do not believe the death was a suicide.

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Russian mobilization began on September 21. Russian authorities announced that they planned to call up about 300,000 people from the reserves. Meduza has reported that Russia actually planned to call up 1.2 million people. The Kremlin denies this.

According to the defense ministry’s announcement, only people who have already served, have military specializations, and have prior combat experience will be drafted. However, information regularly appears in Russia about people who do not meet those criteria being conscripted.

Since Russian president Putin demanded that mistakes made during mobilization be corrected, some of those who were originally drafted are being sent home.