MOSCOW. July 2 (Interfax-AVN) - About 200 servicemen have died in the Russian Armed Forces for various reasons in the past three months, a source in military justice agencies told Interfax- Military News Agency on Friday.
"About 200 servicemen have died in the Russian Armed Forces for various reasons since April 1. This figure does not include losses, suffered by the Russian Defense Ministry in the North Caucasus within that period of time," the source said.
According to him, about 100 of 200 servicemen, who have died in the past three months, have been killed on duty, while the rest of them died off duty, i.e. when on leave, at weekends, etc. The greater part of such servicemen commit suicides or are killed in car accidents.
"Suicides and car accidents account for more than half of non-combat losses, suffered by the Russian Armed Forces on a monthly basis," the source said.
According to him, almost every fifth man killed is an officer, and every third man killed is a conscript.
A high-ranking military official has earlier told Interfax- AVN that a total of 971 servicemen were killed in Russia in 2003, with 263 of them killed in the course of the anti-terrorism operation in Chechnya.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has earlier said that in 2003 the Russian Armed Forces lost 337 men to crimes and accidents. "Suicides accounted for 35% of all deaths, safety rule violations for 23%, and traffic accidents for 10%," he said.
"I am very concerned about suicides in the Russian Armed Forces. I believe that suicides are not justified either socially, or otherwise. No matter what the reason is, a suicides is an obvious shortfall of a relevant commanding officer," the minister emphasized.
The Russian Armed Forces total about 1.1 million servicemen.