Teen Russian Paratrooper Lands On Power Cables And Dies

Story By: Anna CasapSub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyCentral European News

This teenage Russian paratrooper has died during his first jump and images show his lifeless body after he landed on high-voltage overhead power cables and was electrocuted amid claims of negligence.

The incident occurred when 19-year-old paratrooper Ruslan Lapin carried out his first jump in the city of Togliatti in the Samara Oblast region in Russia.

Lapin had been drafted into the elite airborne troops for military service and after passing the theory tests he was ready to begin the practical training for parachute jumps.

Pictures Credit: CEN/@plohie_novosti_mc

However, during the first training jump the teenager deviated from the landing site and fell into high-voltage overhead power cables. 

Images show the parachute hanging from the cables and witnesses report a strong gust of wind may have blown Lapin of course. The exact cause of the incident is yet to be determined. He was reportedly electrocuted.

But one woman, reportedly an eyewitness, has been quoted in local Russian media as saying: “It’s full of witnesses who were indignant that the parachutists were dumped right above the territory of the Individual Housing Construction, although the field is on the left. They can show the place where the guys were dumped from the helicopter. I think this is not an accident, but negligence.”

Reports state body of the deceased soldier was removed from the parachute later in the evening, after the arrival of the military prosecutor.

Netizen ‘Anna Bahceva’ commented: “How unlucky that guy is, sorry for the tears of his parents.”

And ‘Voronova Tanya’ added: “It’s a pity for the boy and the parents grief.”

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