Flu Outbreak at Kuzbass Nursing Home Kills Nine Residents

The Prokopyevsk Psychoneurological Nursing Home, whose residents were hospitalized en masse with the flu, has once again found itself at the center of a scandal. A commission investigating the causes of the infection identified nine deaths among the residents. Three of them—people of different ages and conditions—were killed by the virus itself. But judging by what happened behind the closed walls of the institution, the flu is not the worst. All the important information about the situation in Kuzbass has been compiled by our colleagues from NGS42.RU in one article.

The Outbreak«s Pattern

Events at the psychoneurological nursing home have been rapidly unfolding over the past five days. Over the weekend, it became known to the public that at least 50 residents of the institution were infected with influenza type A, and several more—with pneumonia.

In the nursing home where the outbreak occurred, there are people with severe congenital pathologies and chronic diseases. As doctors later confirmed to us, the flu for them is akin to a bullet—equally deadly.

Nevertheless, all residents were hospitalized on the day journalists learned of the outbreak, not when they began to fall ill. Authorities, represented by the regional Ministry of Social Protection and Ministry of Health, confirmed that a dangerous infection had spread in one of the buildings, and two of the residents were in serious condition in the hospital.

However, all departments assured that most of the disabled and elderly residents were experiencing asymptomatic flu. According to their data, many residents were vaccinated back in November, medical assistance is being provided, and other buildings are being inspected.

Law enforcement suspected that not everything was in order at the institution, with reports specifically of violations of sanitary norms, leading to a criminal case being opened.

At this time, employees of the nursing home contacted the NGS42.RU editorial office and asked for help. The staff stated that the flu outbreak was not accidental but the result of systematic abuse of the defenseless. According to our interlocutors, the mentally ill, lonely, and disabled were fed rotten and expired food, left to freeze, including bedridden patients, in residential buildings, and ignored any complaints about health.

Moreover, the staff claimed that the virus began to knock people down back in November and that there were more infected—about 75, but director Elena Morozova, fearing spoiled statistics and inspections, allegedly decided to hide this. She did not report the numerous complaints and sick residents to either the hospital or her superiors.

Soon, those female workers who tried to get information to law enforcement and inspectors began to be intimidated with dismissal, being suspended from work, arguing that they were supposedly sick with the same virus, although there was no factual evidence of this.

Victims of Indifference

On Wednesday, January 28, sad news came from the medical institution where the sick residents were located—two of the patients had died. Additionally, NGS42.RU was told that people are being buried right there, near the nursing home, in a remote birch forest.

Soon, journalists confirmed this personally, visiting that very «cemetery,» not marked on any publicly available maps.

On Thursday, January 29, while preparing material from the cemetery, it became known that the «victims of indifference» were many times more. The regional Ministry of Social Protection reported nine deaths. NGS42 sources in the city hospital explained the role played by acute respiratory viral infection (ARVI).

— Many of the hospitalized had a number of concomitant diseases. Against the background of pneumonia, heart function worsened, in particular, which can lead to heart attacks in people with chronic illnesses. Unfortunately, there is practically nothing to help them, — explained the publication«s interlocutor.

This same information was confirmed in a conversation with our correspondent by renowned cardiologist Andrei Kondrakhin. The influenza A virus, according to him, causes complications that often prove unbearable for the body.

Nevertheless, law enforcement and authorities promised to examine each case in detail, understand the causes, and, if necessary, punish those responsible.

«Violence as Prevention»

Inadequate indifference to the fate of the disabled on the part of the leadership was previously written about not only by the NGS42.RU editorial. Local activists shortly before the outbreak stated that some residents are beaten, chained, and tortured with sedatives.

Lawyer Alexei Mukhin wrote on social media that punishment from orderlies comes for disobedience, and beatings—as a prevention of theft and escapes. In addition to testimony from residents, he published footage from 2022–2025 showing beaten and chained to radiators people, who he says are residents of the psychoneurological nursing home (PNI).

The editorial office sent a journalistic inquiry to the nursing home asking to comment on accusations of horrific violence against those who a priori cannot defend themselves. No response had been received at the time of publication of this material.

The results of previous inspections—both by the Ministry of Social Protection and law enforcement agencies—have also not been published yet. But one thing is certain: despite all the complaints, the nursing home«s management remains in their positions for now.

All new information about what happened in Prokopyevsk is being compiled in a special report.