Two senior doctors at Novokuznetsk Maternity Hospital No. 1 have been arrested and charged with negligence after nine newborns died between Jan. 4 and Jan. 12, 2026. Regional health authorities say 234 babies were born at the hospital between Dec. 1 and Jan. 11; 17 were in intensive care, 16 of them premature, and all had severe intrauterine infections. Forensic examinations and criminal probes are under way while regional officials have ordered inspections of maternity facilities amid allegations of prior warnings and staffing concerns.
Nine Newborns Die at Siberian Maternity Hospital; Two Senior Doctors Arrested
People gather outside a maternity hospital after the state Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into the deaths of nine newborn babies and detained the hospital's chief doctor and acting head of the intensive care unit, in the Siberian city of Novokuznetsk, Russia, Jan. 14, 2026. / Credit: Svetlana Sheremetyeva-Sherstnyov/REUTERS
Russian police have detained the chief physician and the acting head of the intensive care unit at Novokuznetsk Maternity Hospital No. 1 in southern Siberia after nine newborns died over a nine-day period in early January, prosecutors said.
What Happened
Authorities say the deaths occurred between Jan. 4 and Jan. 12, 2026. The regional health ministry reported that 234 children were born at the hospital between Dec. 1 and Jan. 11; 17 infants were being treated in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit, 16 of them premature and several with extremely low birth weight. Officials added that all 17 had been diagnosed with severe intrauterine infections and that nine did not survive.
Investigation and Charges
Russia's Investigative Committee said the two detained medical leaders face criminal charges of negligence and causing death through negligence. The committee stated: "Between January 4 and January 12, 2026, nine newborns died at Novokuznetsk Maternity Hospital No. 1 as a consequence of the suspects performing their official and professional medical duties in a substandard way." Forensic examinations into each infant's death are under way.
Local Response and Context
The hospital temporarily suspended admissions, citing a high rate of respiratory infection among patients. Local media reported that health authorities had issued at least five warnings to the hospital between August and November 2025; the hospital has denied claims that it was short of dozens of staff. A Komsomolskaya Pravda report saying the facility lacked many staff members was specifically disputed by hospital officials.
"With the first death, they (doctors and nurses) should have bust a gut and started doing something... when nine people have died and everyone is silent, something very strange is going on," a Russian physician, Pavel Vorobyov, told Argumenty i Fakty, according to Reuters.
Political Reaction and Next Steps
Political leaders called the episode a national tragedy. Valentina Matvienko, speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, said the incident "must never be repeated." The governor of the Kuzbass region ordered inspections of all maternity and prenatal facilities across the region, and pro-Kremlin lawmaker Yana Lantratova described the deaths as a "crime against the country" amid a demographic crisis.
Novokuznetsk, a city of roughly 500,000 people, still has a second maternity hospital that regional health officials said remains open. Officials continue to investigate and have emphasized that forensic probes and inspections are ongoing to determine the precise medical and organizational causes of the fatalities.
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