Those responsible for food at the Ulyanovsk Suvorov School were asked to serve two years in prison due to the infection of 74 cadets with tapeworms

The prosecutor asked for two years in a general regime colony for the defendants in the case of infecting cadets of the Ulyanovsk Suvorov Military School. This was reported by the human rights project “Axiom”.

Since February, the case has been re- examined in the Leninsky District Court of Ulyanovsk - for the first time in 2021, the materials were returned to the prosecutor's office due to violations of the requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the indictment.

The defendants are the school's process engineer Marina Kondurina and the production manager of the contractor "SPP Trading House" who supplied the products, Tatyana Suchkova. They are accused of violating security requirements (clause “c” of Part 2 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code).

The outbreak became known at the beginning of 2019 after a routine fluorography at the school; one of the cadets was then diagnosed with parasitic cysts. The number of victims subsequently increased to 74 people: the health of three cadets was seriously harmed, and the rest suffered moderate harm.

According to the Investigative Committee, students at the school became infected with echinococcus larvae in the fall of 2017 due to poorly washed “fruits, vegetables or herbs.” Echinococcosis can be asymptomatic for years. Cadet Ildar Nurtdinov told Novaya Gazeta that there were dirty tables and dishes in the dining room, they often found hair in the food, and traces of dirt on the fruit.

At a meeting with parents after the outbreak was discovered in 2019, the institution’s management explained the infection by “mass contact” of cadets with the dog and “failure to comply with personal hygiene rules.” Izvestia then, citing a source, claimed that the cadets became infected through nasvay. The head of the school, Vladimir Shkirkov , told Simbirsk.city that after this article was published, bags of naswar were found on their premises. An epidemiologist brought in by the Ministry of Defense denied Izvestia’s version.

The director of the SPP Trading House, Sergei Kondrev , told Radio Liberty that their contract with the school ended shortly before the outbreak was discovered - in December 2018. After this, the Pishchevik company, which is part of the Concord group of companies owned by businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, became responsible for food. During the investigation, representatives of the military prosecutor's office named “deliberate actions of third parties to contaminate food” as one of the versions; it was soon abandoned.