A Russian soldier was found dead in Armenia's second-largest city of Gyumri where Russia has a military base, local mediareported Sunday.Police and investigators found the body of 23-year-old Russian citizen Alexei Yampolsky hanging from an electric cable in an apartment on Saturday, according to the Shamshyan.com news website.A preliminary medical examination found no signs of violence and authorities opened a criminal case into suicide, the outlet reported, adding that a full forensic exam of the body was ordered.Yampolsky had reportedly served at Russias 102nd military base in Gyumri, a city that lies 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of the Armenian capital Yerevan.Around 3,000 Russian soldiers are stationed at the 102nd military base.A number of Russian soldiers have beenkilled in Gyumri over the past decade.Yampolsky's death appears to be the first instance of a Russian soldier dying in the South Caucasus country since Yerevan started publicly distancing itself from Moscow in 2023.
That year, Russian peacekeepers failed to intervene during Azerbaijans lightning offensive to retake the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, sending over 100,000 ethnic Armenians fleeing across Armenias borders.In 2016, another Russian soldier who served at the base wassentenced to life in prison over the killing of a local family, sparking protests in the city and across Armenia.