A Russian soldier serving at a military base in Tajikistan has been found dead in an apparent suicide, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday, citing the Tajik Interior Ministry.
The body of the 21-year-old soldier, whose identity has not been disclosed, was found hanging from a tree across from the regional government building in the city of Qurghonteppa, located some 100 kilometers south of the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, the report said.
The soldier was among some 6,000 servicemen deployed to Russia's 201st military base, its largest military facility located beyond its borders. Russia's lease on the base expires in 2042.
The military base confirmed the soldier's death but did elaborate on its cause, Interfax reported.
This is the second suicide case to hit the base in the past year. 23-year-old Alexander Mayer, who was also serving in Tajikistan, jumped off the roof of a nine-story apartment building located near the base.
Suspected cases of mental illness in the Russian military have made headlines in recent months. Valery Permyakov, a soldier at the Russian military base in Gyumri, Armenia, confessed to having killed seven members of a local family. Russian media reported last month that Permyakov had been declared sane after a psychiatric examination.
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