Investigation into the case against Russian colonel, killed a Chechen girl, is complete

The military prosecutor's office of the Northern Caucasus military district has completed its investigation into the criminal case against Colonel Yuri Budanov, the commander of the 160th tank regiment who stands accused of murdering a young Chechen woman in March of last year. The case materials have already been forwarded to the Northern Caucasus military district court for its consideration, the Main Military Prosecutor's office reported on Tuesday. Budanov is accused of intentional homicide in combination with kidnapping, and also with abuse of office accompanied with violence, which had serious consequences, Interfax reports. At first, the investigators also suspected the colonel of committing rape. However, forensic evidence did not bear this out. The investigators determined that the wounds on the body of Elza Kungayeva, 18, that led them to suspect the colonel of rape were inflicted by one of the three servicemen the colonel had tasked with hiding her body. In the course of the investigation Budanov said that he was not going to kill the young Chechen, who, according to his information, was a sniper, guilty of his fellows death.