Nyuta Federmesser spoke about the death of seven wards of a psychoneurological boarding school in St. Petersburg. A criminal case has been initiated • Meduza • RIMA

Nyuta Federmesser spoke about the death of seven wards of a psychoneurological boarding school in St. Petersburg. A criminal case has been initiated

Update. The Investigative Committee in St. Petersburg announced that it had opened a criminal case under the article on causing death by negligence.

Nyuta Federmesser, head of the Palliative Care Center and founder of the Vera hospices charitable foundation, recorded a video message in which she said that seven wards had recently died in the St. Petersburg Psychoneurological Boarding School (PNI) No. 10.

According to Federmesser, the problems at the boarding school were known a year and a half ago.

“We said and wrote that the boarding school is understaffed, that there are not enough hands to care for, that all the children are extremely malnourished and have protein-energy malnutrition. All these children could have been saved. But they all died,” said Federmesser.

She noted that in St. Petersburg there are volunteers who could temporarily replace the caring staff, but they are "virtually not allowed into boarding schools."

Federmesser suggested "opening the doors" of boarding schools for volunteers, as well as setting other performance indicators for the guardian directors of the PNI, which would primarily be aimed at caring for and developing the boarding schools under their care. She appealed to several officials, including Federation Council Chairman Valentina Matviyenko, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko and others.

The telegram channel Mash on the Moika, citing representatives of Federmesser, clarified that the deceased wards of the boarding school were from 19 to 27 years old.

After the publication of Federmesser, the St. Petersburg prosecutor's office began an investigation, as the video message "contains information about possible violations of the law."

Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova said that she had applied to the competent authorities because of the death of the wards of the boarding school.