Before he was ever recruited into the army, Valery Permyakov—the Russian soldier stationed in Armenia who last month murdered a family of seven—was diagnosed with mental illness. Before being sent to Armenia, he was registered with a psychiatrist and confined to hospital.
According to a new report by the television station NTV, the chief enlistment officer who conscripted Permyakov knew about his illness, but concealed the information. The recruitment officer, Alexander Loginovsky, denies these accusations, however, saying Permyakov was in good health and fit for military service, when he recruited him.
A source at Gazeta.ru claims Permyakov was diagnosed with neurocognitive disorder. “They had no right to enlist him, let alone put a gun in his hands and make him a guard, where they send only the very best,” Gazeta.ru’s source said.
According to the website, Russia’s Chief Military Prosecutor is demanding that the staff at Loginovsky’s enlistment office face responsibility for the murder that Permyakov went on to commit in Gyumri. Prosecutors reportedly are also seeking penalties for the commanders of the 102nd army base in Armenia, where Permyakov served.
News agency LifeNews says police have already opened “criminal negligence” investigations against Loginovsky and another man named Evgeny Sotskov, Permyakov’s commander in Russia, before he was sent to Armenia. LifeNews reports no knowledge, however, of charges against the commanders of the 102nd army base, who reportedly didn’t know about Permyakov’s mental illness.
LifeNews also says Permyakov landed in the psychiatric ward of a military hospital almost immediately after being drafted, remaining there for nearly a month.
A spokesperson for Russia’s military enlistment office in the Trans-Baikal region confirmed to newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda that a criminal case has been launched against Loginovsky, who told reporters that he’s received no documentation of any investigation against him.
Loginovsky says Permyakov’s health was in “working order” when he was recruited, and his service in Russia before being deployed to Armenia was without incident. “[If he was so unstable], why’d they promote him to junior sergeant?” Loginovsky asked. “I don’t even have a working Internet connection here, so I’m out of the loop. This is all a bunch of hogwash.”
Evgeny Sotskov, Permyakov’s commander in Russia before he was sent to Armenia, did not confirm information that Permyakov spend a month in the psych ward. When asked to characterize him, Sotskov said, “What is there to say about him? He’s no brother or kin of mine.”
On the morning of January 12, a family of six people was murdered in the Armenian city of Gyumri. A six-month-old baby was also wounded, and died a week later in the hospital. Murder suspect Valery Permyakov, a Russian soldier stationed in Armenia, was soon apprehended at the Turkish border. During police interrogation, he confessed to killing the family in Gyumri.
The murders triggered mass protests in Gyumri and in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, where demonstrators demanded that the Russian military hand over Permyakov to local police, for prosecution in Armenia.
On February 3, it was announced that Russia and Armenia had finally agreed to hold Permyakov’s trial at the military court on Russia’s 102nd army base. Additionally, Armenia’s Attorney General has asked his counterpart in Russia to share Russian investigators’ records on Permyakov with Armenian law enforcement agencies.