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Investigative Committee and Ministry of Health of Russia take all required measures to provide 6-year-old boy injured in foster family in Vologda with high-quality medical assistance

Today, under an instruction from Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin, his senior assistant Igor Komissarov visited the Vologda Region. He met with leading experts who had arrived to the region earlier on behalf of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation: Valentina Guzeva, the Head of the Department of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Medical Genetics of the St. Petersburg State Paediatric Medical University, and the main freelance children’s neurologist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation; Yelena Bulatova, the Head of the Department of Paediatric Diseases of the University, and the main freelance paediatrician of the North-Western Federal District of the Ministry of Health of Russia; Yury Alexandrovich, the Head of the Department of Paediatric Anaesthesiology, Resuscitation and Emergency Paediatrics, and the main paediatric anaesthesiologist - resuscitation specialist of the North-Western Federal District of the Ministry of Health of Russia.

During the working meeting, which was also attended by Head of the Vologda Regional Health Department Igor Maklakov; his deputy Sergey Butakov; Head of the Office for Medical Care for Women and Children of the Department Tatyana Artemyeva; Chief Doctor of the Vologda Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital Vladimir Bogatyrev; and his medical deputies Gennady Pantyukhov and Anna Sadovshchikova; they discussed the issues of the state of health, rehabilitation and treatment of the 6-year-old boy suffered in the foster family. The representatives of the Russian Ministry of Health reported on a full-time consultation they held today resulted in establishing of further tactics for examining and treating the child in the Vologda Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital. The specialists noted that, at the moment, the child’s condition remained stably severe; according to their estimates, the boy was receiving all the necessary medical care in the Vologda hospital.

To remind, on August 10, 2018, the infant child had been brought from the foster family to the Vologda clinical hospital with serious injuries. The Vologda Regional Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation had opened a probe into that fact. In order to clarify the true causes and conditions that had led to the child’s tragedy, and also because of the lack of control over the child’s safety in the foster family, including that of the guardianship authorities revealed during the investigation, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin instructed to refer the probe into intentional infliction of a grave injury; torture of the 6-year-old boy under foster care; and neglect of duty by officials of the Department on Social Protection of Population, Guardianship and Patronage of the city Administration (Paragraph B of Part 2 of Article 111; Paragraph D of Part 2 of Article 117; Part 2 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code of Russia) from the Investigation Directorate II to the Central Office of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia. At the moment, the investigation charged the guardian of the child with commitment of an offence under Articles 125 and 156 of the Criminal Code of Russia (abandoning to danger; failure to discharge the duties of bringing up a minor). In addition, the investigation arranged redoing of commission forensic examinations in order to reliably determine the extent and source of injuries on the child’s body, as well as a psychological and psychiatric forensic examination of a 13-year-old girl in order to verify the version of her injuring the victim.

Under an instruction of Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin, from the moment of the incident, officers of the IC take most active part in organising high-quality medical care for the child, including by contacting the Vologda Regional Health Department; officials of the Russian Ministry of Health; as well as Director of the Research Institute for Children’s Emergency Surgery and Traumatology Leonid Roshal. Leading specialists from federal hospitals of the Ministry of Health of Russia are conducting telemedicine consultations on determining of tactics for further examination and treatment of the child, on schedule. Twice they came to the Vologda hospital, where the boy is treated, for face-to-face consultations, and confirmed the adequacy of the medical care provided to the child.

The coordinating role in providing the boy with any necessary medical care was performed by Oksana Guseva, the Director of the Department on Emergency Medical Care and Expert Activities; and Yelena Baibarina, the Director of the Department of Medical Care for Children and Maternity Services of the Russian Ministry of Health.

It should be noted that in each case of endangering of the life or health of a child, the Committee not only takes comprehensive measures to identify and punish the perpetrators and determine the causes and conditions that contributed to crimes committed. First of all, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin sets in front of the investigators the task of ensuring the maximum possible assistance to victims and their further rehabilitation.

Protection of the legitimate interests of minors, the life and health of children are a priority for the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.