Samara care home denied heating
Take a look at the current conditions inside the nursing home building.
The nursing home for the elderly and disabled «Zelenaya roshcha» (Green Grove nursing home) is sounding the alarm: 90 elderly residents are forced to live without heating during the first autumn frosts. A 63.RU film crew rushed to the scene.
Bedridden patients require daily washing to maintain hygiene in difficult conditions at the home.
Manager Ekaterina Grigorieva said the building’s owner bought it from the previous proprietor, who had signed a ten-year lease with the current tenant. The new owner, however, apparently does not want these residents.
Although it is not very cold outside yet, indoor air temperature has fallen below 20°C (68°F).
Fedor Filippovich (Orenburg region, Russia) travelled across Russia as a topographic surveyor and questions the water cuts.
While legal proceedings continue, the owner is using various methods to force residents to vacate the building for new purposes, periodically cutting off the water supply. We previously wrote about the conflict in detail in a long feature. Since then the situation has only worsened.
Drinking water is purchased in large quantities and used for hygiene, cleaning, and cooking, which is very expensive.
Kitchen staff begin preparing the residents’ afternoon snack, poldnik (afternoon snack).
«Of course it’s inconvenient to cook. With the water jugs the process takes longer», — says cook Alma.
Residents who can still walk wander the corridors wearing warm clothes and layered jackets.
«We dress the elderly warmly, and they sleep under three blankets. Some rooms have air conditioners — we can switch them to heating mode. That’s partly how we cope», — says the nursing home manager.
Some residents will never get up again and will spend the remainder of their lives bedridden here.
Air conditioning is available only in some rooms, not throughout the building.
Ordinary household heaters cannot be used.
«We can’t heat the premises with electricity here, so we don’t even consider that option. It’s unsafe», — says manager Ekaterina Grigorieva.
There has been no hot water at the home since May. Management of «Zelenaya roshcha» (Green Grove nursing home) purchased water heaters, but even those do not always help: the building is often left without cold water as well.
Electric boilers are used to heat water for residents when the central supply fails.
All the elderly residents must wear warm clothing to stay sufficiently protected from the cold inside.
In May this year the head of the Sledstvenny komitet (Investigative Committee of Russia, SK), Alexander Bastrykin, ordered a criminal case to be opened over the illegal eviction of «Zelenaya roshcha» residents from the leased building. In June 2025 the 63.RU editorial team visited the home and showed how it is run. Details of the complex story — in this piece.
The nursing home occupies one building on the grounds of «Sanatoriy Chkalova» (Chkalov Sanatorium).
«There is a court case under way. The next hearing is scheduled for 16 October. The court has not issued any decision yet; the outcome has been postponed. A month ago a notice was hung on the gates saying the home will not be given heating. And «Sanatoriy Chkalova» (Chkalov Sanatorium) made that decision, despite nights already reaching 0°C (32°F) and even −2°C (28°F). There is no heating», — said general director and co-owner Daniil Osmagov.
Care staff are doing everything possible to create comfortable conditions for the residents.
«Our only hope is for a fair court», — say staff at «Zelenaya roshcha» (Green Grove nursing home).
