PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKTY, June 20 (AVN) - A young man with multiple burns on his body was found by hunters in a dug-out in the Kamchatka region on Wednesday, Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Sazonov, prosecutor of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky garrison, told the Military News Agency.
The man was identified as Private Viktor Borovik, who deserted from his unit in Kamchatka's Yelizovo district in 1995 and was hiding from law-enforcers ever since.
The deserter claimed that he had left a maintenance platoon of a separate missile and artillery brigade due to constant hazing. He had no chance to get to his relatives in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and decided to stay in the Kamchatka forests. He lived alone in the dugout for six years, eating fish, mushrooms, animals and foodstuffs stolen from a nearby village.
Half a month ago Borovik got hold of alcohol and accidentally set fire to junk in his dug-out. He got severe burns and was unable to move after that. A bear found the dug-out and strolled around for several days, sometimes reaching the outskirts of the village. Its strange behaviour attracted attention of local hunters, they combed the forest and spotted the dug-out.
Doctors stated that the deserter had visceral dystrophy and second- and third-degree burns that covered 40 percent of his skin, Sazonov said. Borovik will be flown to Moscow's Burdenko central military clinical hospital in a few days. After treatment he will be sent for psychiatric examination. His possible involvement in thefts in the Yelizovo district will also be checked.
According to Sazonov, the deserter is likely to evade trial, but is bound to stay disabled for the rest of his life. Doctors are planning to amputate his right hand and remove a mattering eye.