Evidence collected by the Main Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia was found by court to be sufficient to sentence Elena Popova, deputy chief physician for the medical department of the Perinatal Center No. 1 of the Volgograd Region, and Natalia Andreeva, head of the obstetric department of the said center. They were found guilty of committing an offense under Paragraphs A, C of Part 2 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of Russia (rendering of services that do not meet safety requirements, committed by a group of persons under preliminary conspiracy).

Investigation and the court established that in January 2017 a 27-year-old woman on 30th week of pregnancy was admitted to municipal hospital No. 2 in Volzhsky, Volgograd Region, where she was diagnosed with ARVI and prescribed treatment. However, the woman felt bad and was sent to the Perinatal Center No. 1. At the same time, the doctors on duty identified the risk of premature birth and recommended continuing treatment, and in case of development of labor, choosing the method of delivery depending on the obstetric situation.

Despite this, Elena Popova and Natalia Andreeva, ignoring the scope of examination and treatment of the woman determined by the doctors on duty, did not properly assess the clinical manifestations and decided to send the patient back to the hospital, but on the same evening they transferred her back to the center. At the same time, the accused did not take into account the antenatal death of the fetus and its breech presentation, did not properly assess other important indicators and decided to take delivery naturally. The caesarean section was performed only after the woman in labor began to bleed profusely. As a result, the child died, and the woman, who had lost a lot of blood, fell into a coma and subsequently died.

The court sentenced Popova and Andreeva to 2 years of imprisonment  in a general regime penal colony each with deprivation of right to engage in medical activities for a period of 2 years from the date of entry of the sentence into force.