Overview
- Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a case for causing death by negligence, with staff questioned, medical records seized and forensic tests under way.
- The local health ministry reported 234 births from Dec. 1 to Jan. 11, with 17 infants in serious condition from severe intrauterine infections and nine fatalities.
- Kuzbass Governor Ilya Seredyuk suspended the hospital’s head doctor, Vitaly Kheraskov, pending the investigation.
- The hospital paused admissions citing an excess of respiratory infections and introduced quarantine measures, with four infants still in intensive care and four transferred.
- Public anger prompted high-level responses, including Valentina Matviyenko calling the deaths a state-level tragedy and other regions ordering maternity hospital inspections.