One of the most tragic incidents in recent years at a Russian maternity hospital has occurred in Kuzbass, in the Kemerovo Oblast. During the New Year holidays, nine infants died within a two-week period at Novokuznetsk Maternity Hospital No. 1, while four more newborns remain in intensive care, reports Dialog.ua.
Local media suggest that the mass deaths may be linked to a severe shortage of medical staff. According to Russian media reports, nursing duties were reportedly carried out by orderlies rather than qualified nurses. Data cited by the outlet NGS42, referring to a source in the regional Ministry of Health, indicate that on some days as many as three newborns died in a single day.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the region has opened a criminal case on charges of negligence and causing death through negligence.
The governor of Kemerovo Oblast announced that the hospital’s chief physician, Vitaly Heraskov, has been suspended from his post. Even before the official announcement, the maternity hospital had effectively stopped admitting women in labor. Later, hospital management declared the closure of the department, citing an “exceeded threshold of respiratory infections.”
According to sources close to law enforcement agencies, infection was the direct cause of the infants’ deaths.
This maternity hospital has been embroiled in scandals for several years. In September 2025, a resident of Novokuznetsk publicly accused hospital doctors of causing the death of a premature baby, pointing to gross medical errors and inhumane treatment by staff. A criminal case was opened at the time, but no information about the outcome has been made public.
Media reports indicate that over the past two years the maternity hospital has received around 170 warnings, including 14 in 2025 alone. Journalists report that orderlies were employed to work in place of qualified nurses. In addition, in 2024, the hospital’s former deputy chief physician was sentenced to eight years in prison for bribery.
What is happening in Novokuznetsk is not an isolated case, but part of a disturbing pattern. For example, in 2017, eleven infants died over several months at a perinatal center in Bryansk that had been personally opened by Vladimir Putin. In 2018, 22 newborn deaths were recorded in Belgorod. In all these cases, criminal investigations were launched, but information on their actual outcomes remains unavailable.
Novokuznetsk, a city with a population of over 500,000, has only one maternity hospital and one perinatal center. The closure or paralysis of even one such facility automatically puts the lives of thousands of women and children at risk.
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