SEVASTOPOL. Feb 4 (Interfax-AVN) - Black Sea Fleet sailor Alexander Lachkov deserted from his unit with arms early on Friday, the fleet's press service reported.
"Absence of sailor Alexander Lachkov from his post was noticed overnight to February 4, when internal guards were being replaced in the surface-to-air missile regiment of the Black Sea Fleet's coastal forces stationed in Kazachya Bay. Lachkov was recruited from the town of Kamenets-Uralsky in the Sverdlovsk region in June 2004," the report reads.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry department in Sevastopol was notified on the desertion, and a joint search was been arranged. A working team led by Rear Admiral Yevgeny Khalaichev, commander of the Sevastopol garrison, was set up to investigate causes and circumstances of the incident and to find the sailor.
Lachkov arrived in the unit from a training detachment on December 17 last year. He accomplished guard missions successfully many times and was praised by his seniors.