ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Prosecutors in Kazakhstan say a soldier arrested on suspicion of murdering 14 of his colleagues and a park ranger at a remote frontier outpost last week has confessed to the killings.
The General Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on June 7 that Vladislav Chelakh admitted to carrying out the act in a state of mental confusion following a dispute at the station on the border with China.
The statement says 20-year old Chelakh stated he had acted alone while his victims were asleep. Chelakh was found several days later in a shepherd’s hut with a handgun and electronic equipment belonging to his colleagues.
The killings have provoked shock across the Central Asian nation. President Nursultan Nazarbayev initially described the incident as an act of terrorism.
