MOSCOW: A Russian soldier suspected of killing three servicemen using an axe and a gun at a military base has been detained after a massive manhunt, officials said. The shooting - the second at a military base in a year - took place at an airfield near the city of Voronezh where activists say army conscripts have been subjected to humiliating hazing.

Authorities however insist that bullying rituals that plagued the military in the 1990s have been rooted out in the Russian army. Investigators said that a 20-year-old soldier identified as private Anton Makarov attacked an officer at the Baltimore military airfield near the city of Voronezh at 5:30 am (0230 GMT). Voronezh is more than 500 kilometres (310 miles) south of Moscow.