Ramil Shamsutdinov

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Ramil Salimovich Shamsutdinov (born 1999) is a Tatar soldier who committed a mass shooting on October 25th, 2019, in military unit 5416 in Gorny, Zabaykalsky Krai (Russia). He killed 8 of his fellow servicemen and wounded 2. Ramil claimed he went on a shooting spree due to bullying, hazing and abuse he suffered while being in the army. He claimed that some of soldiers didn't let him sleep (it's been determined that Ramil would sleep only 5 hours while being on guard duty for 3 days instead of 24 hours), were stealing his mobile phone and even threatened to rape him. Ramil also mentioned that soldiers regularly beat him and extorted his money. One of the survived soldiers Ruslan Mukhatov eventually confessed in abusing Ramil and others and got 2 years probation. He also had to pay 30 000 rubles in penalties.

Ramil's father Salim said that Ramil "always behaved well, never got into fight with anyone, was interested in sport and stood for justice". He also said that "modern army is worse than a prison" and disagreed with court's decision, saying it was "too harsh". Salim also mentioned that during forensic examination one of the experts said to Ramil that "it would be better if he shot or hanged himself instead". Ramil's former girlfriend and a college teacher also supported him, saying that the existing army system and abuse pushed him to the edge.

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"Before what happened with Ramil I thought that things in our army were going well. People nowadays serve only a year - what sort of hazing could be there? And now it turns out what's actually going on. When I was serving in the army hazing existed, but senior soldiers only taught the young ones and didn't bully them. It just didn't happen, but nowadays army is worse than a prison. I read on the Internet how many suicides happen in the army nowadays, I couldn't imagine that something like that actually happens. Mothers spend years to prove that their sons were driven to suicide." ~ Salim Shamsutdinov

Ramil said in court that it was his only choice and that "they would kill him if he didn't do that first". He said he was sorry about accidentally killing 2 soldiers who didn't have anything to do with that. He pleaded guilty in 2020 and was sentenced to 24 and a half years in a strict regime colony. The court also determined that he would pay about 28 million rubles to the families of killed soldiers.

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"I regret that I couldn't control myself and took everything that far, but I didn't have any other choice. I could no longer tolerate this bullying. I offer sincere condolences to the families of soldiers and ask for forgiveness (if they can forgive me). I didn't try to escapet the army, I wanted to defend the Homeland and devote my life to the army. I didn't expect that I would end up in such a hell. It was impossible to run away or complain to someone. I think it was the instinct of self-preservation. Only now I started to realize how much pain I brought to others and ruined my own life." - from Ramil's letter to the court.

Later it's been reported that Ramil actually wanted to join the Wagner Group to take part in the Special Military Operation in Ukraine, but eventually was rejected.

Gallery with crime scene photos included: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Interview with Ramil's father - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Interesting, didn't know about this one.

Ramil:
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Ramil's room:
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Ramil with friends during the WorldSkills event:
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