MOSCOW, March 6 (Itar-Tass) —— The military prosecutor’s office in the Russian Strategic Missile Troops demanded to bring to justice those guilty for an outbreak of acute respiratory diseases of servicemen in the Uzhur missile division and the death of Private Ivan Permitin of pneumonia.
The investigation into the massive sickness case of several dozens of servicemen showed that an outbreak of respiratory diseases among conscript servicemen “spread due to violations over the disruption of heating supplies at the barracks and the medical services for servicemen,” a source in the prosecutor’s office of the Russian Strategic Missile Troops said on Tuesday.
The subsidiaries of the Slavyanka power utility and the property management department failed to make the barracks warmer and repair the heating system for the winter. As a result, amid harsh frosts the air temperature in residential and service quarters fell down lower than the permissible level. Officials of the missile unit also did not take efficient measures to provide for the proper indoor temperature and did not make claims to the property management department and did not report about the problems to the higher command.
Meanwhile, “the soldiers were trafficked in unheated vehicles and were not provided with a rehabilitation period after the disease over the improper performance of service duties by some commanders.”
With the onset of frosts the situation has deteriorated in the division over the anti-virus vaccination disruption. Despite the orders from the district commander, the medicines were supplied only on January 15 when they already could not be used during a massive respiratory disease outbreak of servicemen. Meanwhile, servicemen of the medical services in the Omsk Army and the division failed to fulfil their duties to provide the medical station and the military hospital with medicines.
“All this resulted in a higher number of sick servicemen and accelerated the development of pneumonia in Private Permitin and other servicemen, which undergo treatment now,” the source said.
“The investigation materials against officials in the missile division were submitted to military investigation bodies for criminal persecution under Article 293 Part 2 of the Criminal Code for negligence that entailed the death of a person through negligence,” the source noted.
Meanwhile, the commander of the division, the chief of the medical service and another 18 commanders were reprimanded by the military prosecutors that law violations are impermissible.
The prosecutors demanded to take additional measures to bring down the sickness rate. The heating supplies were fully restored at the facilities in the division, the air temperature in the barracks was brought back to the norm. Experienced medical specialists from the Defence Ministry, the Central Military District and the central staff of the Russian Strategic Missile Troops were assigned to make daily medical examinations of servicemen. The military hospitals and medical stations were provided with anti-virus medicines. An additional sickness isolation ward and a rehabilitation centre were opened.