Russian Navy Punishes Officers After 4 Cadets Die

The Russian navy has fired several officers and “severely punished” the commander of its Pacific Fleet for allowing four cadets to die of malnutrition and scores of others to fall ill, the Itar-Tass news agency reported Sunday.

The deaths became public last week when Russian media published photographs of recruits at the Russky Island training base who resembled what one newspaper called “prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.”

At least 86 cadets have been hospitalized at the base near Vladivostok for emaciation, pneumonia and other conditions after being fed nothing but porridge and mashed potatoes for two months and being denied warm clothing or access to physicians, according to Russian journalists in the Far East.

Defense Minister Pavel S. Grachev first acknowledged the scandal last week, calling it “disgraceful.” Tass reported Sunday that Adm. Gennady Khvatov, the fleet commander, had been punished and at least three officers had been dismissed for “lapses in the welfare support and social protection of personnel.”

Grachev, who has presided over severe military budget cuts since the breakup of the Soviet Union’s giant Red Army, said the Russky Island cadets had not received enough food because of shortages of milk, juices and butter. Other officials have admitted that corrupt officers hoard food rations meant for lower-ranking servicemen and sell it on civilian markets.