Tragic Loss: 9 Infants Pass Away in Novokuznetsk Maternity Hospital
Tragic Incident in Novokuznetsk Maternity Hospital
On January 13, 2026, shocking news shook the entire country—nine newborns passed away in Maternity Hospital No. 1 in Novokuznetsk within a short period. Initially, it was reported that an infection caused the deaths, but more detailed information has since emerged.
The Telegram channel Mash published the preliminary diagnoses of each infant. The primary factor common to all the deceased was prematurity. The smallest baby was born at five months, a critical condition often incompatible with life. Other infants were born at six, seven, and eight months. However, prematurity alone is insufficient to explain such a massive and rapid loss of life. The lists of diagnoses, alarming in their severity, repeatedly include key terms: infection, pneumonia, and multiple organ failure.
Several infants were diagnosed with generalized infectious processes, neonatal infections, and congenital pneumonia. The complications were catastrophic: one boy developed multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), where the respiratory and cardiovascular systems failed, metabolism was disrupted, and kidney function was impaired. Other fatal diagnoses included severe birth asphyxia, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), infectious-toxic shock, respiratory distress syndrome, brain hemorrhages, and pneumothorax.
Reading these stark medical terms, one cannot help but wonder: what exactly triggered the rapid development of infections and organ failure?
There is no official answer from the investigation yet. However, Gennady Onishchenko, former Chief Sanitary Doctor of Russia and academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, suggested that a bacterial, rather than viral, infection caused the tragedy. The expert speculated that there might have been severe violations of sanitary regulations in the institution. He also noted that staff with chronic purulent diseases of the nasopharynx or teeth could have been the source of dangerous staphylococcus strains. According to one version, a cleaner who came to work with acute respiratory viral infection (ARVI) symptoms might have introduced the infection.
The tragedy exposed not an isolated error but a whole range of systemic problems that patients and their relatives had been reporting for years. Soon after the incident, shocking stories about this maternity hospital appeared in the media and on social networks. One woman shared that her child became severely disabled in 2022 due to oxygen deprivation during childbirth, but the investigation at the time attributed everything to an unidentified infection. Others complained about the “inhumane” attitude of the staff, rudeness, and negligence. There were allegations of appalling sanitary conditions. The hospital was said to be infested with cockroaches and rats, patients were given sour food in dirty dishes, and there was mold on the walls.
The father of one of the deceased infants stated that the doctors hid the child’s real condition from the parents until the very end. The mother of another baby claimed that all the staff in the department were visibly ill, coughing and sneezing, but not wearing masks.
Another acute problem that surfaced during the investigation was the chronic shortage of staff. Medical workers, speaking anonymously, reported that due to the lack of personnel, orderlies who lacked the necessary qualifications and education might have been assigned the duties of nurses. The authorities, however, denied this fact, asserting that there was no staff shortage in the hospital.
At present, the Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case under the articles “Causing Death by Negligence” and “Malfeasance.” The chief physician of the hospital, Vitaly Kheraskov, has been suspended from his duties. Investigators have arrived at the scene, started seizing medical records, and interrogating the staff. The situation has been taken under federal control. A group of leading specialists from Moscow and St. Petersburg, headed by the head of Roszdravnadzor, has been dispatched to Novokuznetsk. Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Federation Council, called the incident not only a personal tragedy for the families but also a “tragedy for the state,” which is making efforts to support demography.
