Hungry days: up to 20 years of age is threatened by the mother, whose fault caused the baby to die of exhaustion

The mother of a baby who died of exhaustion faces up to 20 years in prison under the article on the murder of a minor committed with extreme cruelty, experts told Izvestia. According to the TFR, a resident of Norilsk left her four children unattended for four days. A five-month-old baby died of exhaustion, and two more girls are in serious condition in the hospital. Experts believe that other charges may be brought against the woman, for example, under the article on leaving in danger. In addition, within the framework of the article of the Criminal Code on negligence, an inspection is also carried out against employees of the guardianship authorities — neighbors claim that they have repeatedly paid attention to a dysfunctional family, but no one has taken any measures.

How the child died

In Norilsk, a 35-year-old mother of four children is suspected of murdering a minor with extreme cruelty. According to the regional department of the Investigative Committee, the woman left home for four days, leaving her children unattended — three girls (the eldest is 15 years old, the youngest is two and one) and a newly born boy.

"Due to prolonged starvation, on December 17, a five-month—old boy died of exhaustion," the department noted.

According to the investigation, the accused stayed with her friend for several days. The two younger girls have now been hospitalized. The eldest daughter was placed in a social institution. The investigators, examining the scene, did not find any food in the refrigerator.

"At the request of the investigation, a preventive measure in the form of detention was chosen against her. In addition, during the investigation, a legal assessment will be given to the actions (inaction) of the preventive system authorities under Article 293 of the Criminal Code (negligence)," the Investigative Committee said.

The teenage daughter called her mother several times and asked her to come and feed the children — the girl had no money, regional media reported.

Now, on social media, people are demanding punishment not only for the accused, but also for those who should have reacted to signals of distress.

"Did the school really not see that the child does not attend classes for several days?!" — they are outraged, in particular, in local publications.

"The woman received benefits. Where were the regulatory authorities, the control from the children's hospital, the school? No one cared how the family lived, what was going on there," social media users note. "Children don't come to the hospital for checkups, and the eldest girl doesn't go to school."

"They wrote to her for custody, but it was of no use," says the comment, which belongs to one of the woman's neighbors.

What is the risk of a child's death?

A mother with many children is now accused only of murder, but two younger daughters were also injured, lawyer Vadim Egulemov drew attention. According to him, there are signs of a crime under the article on leaving in danger in the situation. The lawyer did not rule out that additional charges could be filed later.

"There is still a question about the qualifications for murder, because this citizen must have had the intention to kill the child,— lawyer Vladimir Sobolev told Izvestia.

At the same time, the experts interviewed by the editorial office believe that it is worth waiting for charges against other possible defendants in the case. For example, they may be representatives of guardianship authorities, especially if the family was registered there, or previously there were appeals from relatives, neighbors, teachers or doctors.

— If there were appeals, the appropriate guardianship and guardianship authority should have responded, conducted an inspection, and taken appropriate measures. Failure to fulfill such duties may become grounds for initiating a criminal case," Vadim Egulemov explained.

Izvestia sent a request to the city department of guardianship and guardianship, as well as to the children's ombudsman of the region. At the time of publication, the editorial office had not received any responses.

According to the article on the murder of a minor committed with extreme cruelty, the woman faces up to 20 years in prison.

Criminal cases against guardianship authorities are rare, but there have been examples. So, according to lawyer Evgeny Stegantsev, in the Lipetsk region in 2012, custody failed to keep track of a boy who was killed by his adoptive father, and a criminal case was opened against two employees.

The situation in Norilsk is far from the first high—profile case of death and torture of children in 2025.

At the end of May 2025, law enforcement agencies opened a case against the mother of a disabled child from Krasnodar. She did not take him out of the house for several years, did not bathe him and fed him only bread, the regional prosecutor's office reported. The boy was completely isolated from society from birth. The apartment of this family was unsanitary, there was no food, clothes, shoes and toys for the boy. A criminal case was initiated under the article on failure to fulfill the duties of raising a minor, "if this act is connected with ill-treatment."

In the Perm Region, according to law enforcement agencies, a woman has been abusing foster children for two years. So, having found cigarette butts in the pocket of an 11-year-old boy, she forced him to eat them with matches and part of a matchbox. The minors escaped and reported the guardian's actions to law enforcement agencies. The court sentenced the woman to three years and one month of probation and ordered her to pay 50,000 rubles each to the victims.

And in 2024, in the Krasnodar Territory, the court toughened the sentence of the raw food blogger Maxim Lyutoy - from eight to 10 years in prison. Due to the methods of caring for the newborn baby (he was almost not fed, watered with cold water), he died on the way to the hospital.

Where did the guardianship authorities look

Alexandra Marova, director of the Foundation for the Prevention of Social Orphanhood, recalled that several years ago the local guardianship authorities "went too far" with the unlawful removal of children. So, in 2015, a three-month-old baby was taken from a nursing mother in Kuban, and six days later he died in the hospital. Among the reasons why the child was taken away was an empty refrigerator: the family was considered poor. In the same year, another tragic story happened — a five-month-old baby was taken from a migrant family in St. Petersburg, and a day later he died in the hospital.

"When everyone imagines that they might come and take their children away because they don't have apples or haven't dusted them, naturally, a chill runs through their skin, and people really turn against this system,— Alexandra Marova explained.

According to the expert, after such a resonance, the guardianship authorities and other supervisory authorities began to fear drastic measures, as a result of which such stories as in Norilsk are now being overlooked.

— Some kind of signal is being received, the guardianship authorities are reaching out to the family. If there is a brothel, bedlam, bottles, drunken people, or there is a child lying alone, of course, no one in this situation will talk to their parents about proper behavior. The child will be processed according to the act of neglect and placed in an appropriate institution, and only then they will deal with the parents," Alexandra Marova said.

Nevertheless, according to the expert, mistakes do happen, but "two or three mistakes cannot be compared with dozens of saved children's lives." The expert assured that now, if the family lives modestly, but the children are clothed and fed, no one will take the children out of the family — this is done only in case of danger to life and health.

In the situation of a mother with many children from Norilsk, custody will petition the court to restrict the rights of the mother before sentencing her, Vadim Egulemov believes. Then the deprivation of parental rights is also possible.

Deprivation of parental rights is a more severe punishment than the restriction under which a child is removed from the family for a while — until the parents or guardians eliminate dangerous circumstances. A parent deprived of his rights cannot communicate with a child, participate in his upbringing and receive benefits.

In recent years, guardianship authorities in Russia have become less likely to deprive parents of their rights. In March 2025, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation published information on the identification and placement of orphaned children and children left without parental care for 2024.

Thus, the number of orphans and children left without parental care decreased by 5% to 340,055 people. During the year, 39,583 children were identified who were left without parental care. This is 5.7% less than a year earlier. There are 26,594 social orphans among them, which is 9.5% less than in 2023.

In addition, the number of parents deprived of parental rights in 2024 was 21,631, which is 12.1% less than in 2023. The number of parents with limited rights decreased by 11.6% in 2024 to 6,742. At the same time, the number of parents restored to parental rights increased by 5.2% and amounted to 887 people.

"We see positive dynamics in relation to 2023 in key indicators," Maria Lvova—Belova, the Commissioner for Children's Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, said at the time. — The level of decline is in some cases higher than in previous years. Separately, I would like to note the reduction in the number of social orphans, the number of children in regional data banks, fewer parents have been restricted and deprived of parental rights."

But, according to Alexandra Marova, there is a "gray area" in the statistics on children left without parental care: now a child can be temporarily transferred to a social rehabilitation center for minors.