Officials Clash Over Burials of Unidentified Dead in Novosibirsk

Deceased who have no relatives or whose identity could not be established are buried as «unclaimed». For the burial of this category of people in Novosibirsk, there is a separate plot at one of the cemeteries, where last year alone, 70 more burials were added. But it turned out that the risk of being buried somewhere in the back corners of the necropolis with a number instead of a name is only part of the problem. Last year, disagreements arose between the municipality and the Social Fund of Russia (SFR) over who should pay for the burial of unknown people. A correspondent from NGS.RU listened to the arguments of both sides and tried to understand whether the dispute will affect the burial of «unclaimed» in the future.

Without Name or Kin

Before describing the essence of the conflict, it is necessary to understand how people from the «unknown» category are buried. This includes both deceased without relatives and those whose identity could not be established, such as homeless individuals. The burial procedure is determined by Federal Law No. 8-FZ of January 12, 1996.

If the deceased has no relatives or other representatives, responsibility for the funeral falls on a specialized service. In the case of Novosibirsk, this is the Municipal State Institution «Ritual Services» (MKU «Ritual Services»), which is responsible for all city cemeteries.

First, law enforcement agencies establish the identity of the deceased, if possible, and then determine the cause of death. According to the law, if there is no criminal aspect to the death, burial must occur within three days after these procedures. The burial is conducted at the «minimum tariff»—providing only what is included in the guaranteed list of services: document processing, dressing the body, providing a coffin, transporting the body to the cemetery or crematorium, and the burial itself.

For the burial of «unclaimed» in Novosibirsk, a separate plot is allocated—this is block 108 at the «Kleshchikhinskoye» Cemetery. According to the mayor«s office, in 2025, 71 unknown individuals were buried there. It is difficult to navigate, as no slabs or other markings are provided in such cases—only iron plates with serial numbers. Sometimes errors occur, and people end up in the unknown category by accident.

«Some of the »unclaimed« are eventually found, but only after burial. In such cases, a slab with the name is placed on the grave, or the body is even reburied elsewhere,» said Lydia Korolyova, a cemetery tour guide.

NGS.RU reported on one such error in 2024. Then, a veteran of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), who died in a car accident, was buried at «Kleshchikhinskoye» Cemetery as «unclaimed». Despite the deceased having a family, someone managed to receive the burial payment even before the relatives learned of the tragedy.

The MVD stated at the time that the relatives of the deceased could not be found. It also proved impossible to determine who received the money for the burial of the «unclaimed» veteran.

The payment under the guaranteed list in such cases amounts to about 10,000 rubles (approximately $100 at current rates). Over the years, a scheme of interaction between government agencies has been developed: the specialized service conducts the burial, then submits documents to the SFR office in Novosibirsk Oblast to receive compensation from the budget.

System Failure

Last year, a failure occurred in the system. In February 2025, the local SFR office refused to issue MKU «Ritual Services» a statement on receiving services under the guaranteed list for the burial of 16 «unknown» individuals. Since 1 January of last year, this is a mandatory requirement for receiving compensation; previously, a death certificate was sufficient. The municipal institution considered the decision illegal and filed a lawsuit.

The process of obtaining the statement does not cause difficulties. It is necessary to indicate the personal data of the deceased: passport number, SNILS (Russian pension insurance number). But in cases where the identity of the deceased was never established, this becomes an impossible task. Consequently, it is also impossible to reimburse the burial costs.

MKU stated that it now has no legal grounds for burying «unclaimed» individuals. The institution appealed to the local SFR office several times but each time received a refusal, according to materials from the Arbitration Court of Novosibirsk Oblast.

In response, the SFR referred to changes in federal burial legislation. Since 1 January 2025, a unified standard for assigning social burial benefits has come into force. Among other things, it follows that now SFR will pay the benefit directly to the applicant. At the same time, the death certificate was excluded from the list of necessary documents for receiving compensation, as it lacks mandatory data.

«The application form requires mandatory filling of the following fields: surname, name, date of birth, citizenship, address of registration or stay at the last place of residence to identify the deceased. Patronymic and SNILS are filled in if available,» clarified the SFR.

The court sided with the SFR and concluded that the impossibility of burying unknowns without the statement is a subjective opinion of MKU «Ritual Services», as the law does not prohibit conducting such burials. MKU appealed the decision, but at the end of last year, the appellate court upheld it.

«Further burial of persons in this category will be carried out within the framework of current legislation,» commented the mayor«s office press center to NGS.RU.

What Happens Next?

The local SFR office in Novosibirsk Oblast told NGS.RU that the burial of people from the «unknown» category will now occur without the involvement of the department. To receive compensation, the municipal service must apply to the social protection authorities.

«The specialized funeral service needs to apply to the social protection authorities for reimbursement of the cost of the guaranteed list of services for the burial of the »Unknown« category of persons without providing the statement, bypassing the territorial offices of the fund,» stated the department«s response to NGS.RU»s inquiry.

The SFR office noted that initially, information about upcoming legislative changes was communicated to officials. Additionally, a prosecutor«s inspection confirmed that the fund justifiably refused to issue MKU the statement on service choice, according to the court decision.

It is assumed that the new rules will make obtaining burial payments more transparent and help prevent manipulation. For example, now compensation cannot be received twice, as happened in the case of the MVD veteran buried in the plot for «unclaimed».

Claims that someone received the death certificate before relatives often arise in connection with dishonest funeral agents. This happened in the case of a resident of Berdsk, whose story was described by NGS.RU: a funeral agent received her father«s death certificate before she did, buried him for money, and as a result, even obtained burial compensation from the SFR.

Funeral specialist Natalya Savchenko confirmed in a conversation with NGS.RU that the changes are primarily aimed at avoiding fraudulent schemes with burial payments. At the same time, the lawyer noted that the dispute over legislative nuances between MKU and SFR did not help determine a new procedure for compensating the burial costs of unknowns.

«In any case, the state is obligated to compensate. From which source—is the question. The situation is such that refusing to provide the service is not allowed by presidential decree, but the question arises of creating an algorithm for such a category of persons. Because reimbursement must occur, as the specialized service has no other sources of income; it is a state institution,» explained Natalya Savchenko.

According to the lawyer, there are several ways out of the situation: seek a court decision on compensation payment, since the service has already been provided, or determine another source of funding, such as from the city budget. Natalya Savchenko emphasized that misunderstandings between officials will not lead to burial problems because the specialized service is legally obligated to provide the service no matter what.

Meanwhile, city cemeteries are running out of space. Necropolises are nearly 90% occupied, even though they are regularly expanded.