‘It’s fun to watch’

Russian Internet users say they’ve identified a nurse who confessed to unplugging dying veterans, but he denies it

Federal investigators opened a probe after users on the anonymous online image forum Dvach claimed to have identified someone who confessed to working in a hospital and killing patients. The individual named by the Internet community denies the allegations.

On February 6, in a thread on Dvach, an anonymous user wrote about “getting [pleasure] from tormenting dying people.” The person said he works in the intensive care unit at a medical institution and offered proof by sharing a photograph of his work uniform and hospital badge. Obscured beneath a handgun, the words “Sergey Vladimirovich, nurse anesthetist” were visible. The Dvach user did not offer any evidence, however, that he himself took the photograph.

In a subsequent thread, the user claimed responsibility for killing more than a dozen military veterans. “I just disconnect them from the IVL [medical ventilator] and watch them in agony. It’s very fun,” he wrote, claiming that several people die in his hospital wing every month, so a dozen deaths over the course of three years during the same nurse’s shifts arouse no one’s suspicion.

Using the name, patronymic, and job title shared on the forum, however, other Dvach users were able to identify the man who owns the photographed uniform: Sergey Vladimirovich Volf, a nurse anesthetist at the Kirov Regional Veterans Hospital who specializes in anesthesiology and intensive care. Internet users also found other photographs of Volf on social media and concluded that it’s likely his hands depicted in the photograph showing his uniform and badge.

Speaking to the publication Readovka, hospital supervisor Alexander Rozuvan said he has no plans to conduct an internal review of Volf. After other media outlets picked up the story, however, local state investigators and the Kirov district attorney’s office announced a probe.

According to the website Open Media, a preliminary inspection by the Health Ministry found no evidence that any patients have died in Sergey Volf’s care, and Volf himself denies writing anything on Dvach. But ministry officials say the audit isn’t finished yet. In a video released to the public, Volf says he’s not involved in any murders and he asks state investigators to find those who framed him for mistreating patients.

Story by Grigory Levchenko

Translation by Kevin Rothrock