Siberian conscript 'admits' killing six members of an Armenian family in shocking attack

Russian conscript Valery Permyakov, 18, has admitted killing a family with his military Kalashnikov machine gun, say Armenian prosecutors. 

He left his post and called at a house  close to Gyumri at 6am on the pretext of asking for a drink of water. The door was opened by Asmik Avetisyan 51, who was shot dead on the spot.

Then the killer rushed inside and shot dead her husband Serzh Avetisyan, 53, their daughter Aida, 35, son Armen, 33, and daughter-in-law Araksiaya, 22. 

Armen and Araksiya's daughter Asmik, two, was stabbed with an army knife in her bed. The conscript wounded the couple's second child  Serezha, aged six months.

The massacre was discovered some hours later when a relative called at the house. Miraculously the baby was still alive, but was said to be in a 'grave' condition.

The child underwent emergency surgery on 12 January, and is on an artificial lung. He has a knife wound to the chest, say medics. 

The soldier left his army boots and Kalashnikov in the house, along with his uniform, and fled the house in casual clothes. He was arrested later by guards close to the Armenia border with Turkey. He was handed to the commander of his military base, and is now held in the camp's jail.

Deputy Head of Armenian Police Hunan Poghosyan said that the Russian serviceman had admitted to the murder of the Avetisyans' family.

'The suspect of the Avetisyans family murder in Gyumri, common soldier of the 102nd Russian military base, Valery Permyakov, gave the first testimonies and admitted to the murder,' said Poghosyan.

He faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted, said experts. 

The Defence Minister of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan met with the Deputy Defense Minister of Russia Arkady Bakhin to discuss the case. 

A protest outside the Russian Embassy in Yerevan with some demand for Vladimir Putin to apologise to the Armenian people. 

A friend of the detained man in Chita, called Andrei, was quoted as saying: 'I am shocked. Honestly, I do not think he is capable of murder.'

Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper in Russia reported that Permyakov had a mental disorder in the past but still he was recruited to serve in the army, where he was a tank driver.