The case regarding the deaths of nine mothers in Beslan has been returned to the prosecutor.

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The Lenin District Court of Vladikavkaz sent the criminal case against the chief physician of the Right Bank Central District Hospital, Alan Adyrkhaev, accused of negligence that led to the deaths of nine mothers in 2021 during the pandemic.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on December 19, 2021, 32-year-old mother Aida Tasojeva died in the Right Bank Central District Hospital after complications from coronavirus. Her mother, Fatima Tasojeva, a resident of North Ossetia, believes that her daughter's death was caused by improper treatment. She appealed to local authorities and agencies, as well as to Vladimir Putin, the head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, and the Prosecutor General's Office, to seek punishment for those responsible. The lawyer stated in August 2024 that representatives of the Ministry of Health are delaying the court process regarding Tasojeva's claim.

The decision to send the criminal case to the prosecutor was made after the process had lasted almost a year, with court debates taking place, after which the court retired to prepare the verdict. The victims plan to appeal the decision, believing that the identified shortcomings did not prevent the case from being considered on the merits, writes Kommersant on September 1.

The criminal case against Adyrkhaev was initiated after investigating the circumstances of the deaths of nine pregnant women and mothers in the Beslan hospital during the pandemic. Initially, he was charged under Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (provision of services that do not meet safety requirements), but it was later reclassified to part 3 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (negligence resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence).

The investigation believes that the hospital did not provide the necessary conditions for medical assistance, specifically regarding issues with medical equipment, staff shortages, deficiencies in the operation of the intensive care unit, and laboratory tests. One of the important questions was the lack of the ability to conduct gas composition and acid-base state blood tests for severe patients; according to the victims, the equipment for this simply did not work.

Adyrkhaev denies guilt, and the defense insists that the patients were already admitted to the hospital in serious condition, and the cause of death was complications from the coronavirus infection. The accused stated in court that he informed the regional Ministry of Health about the problems, but there was no response. Meanwhile, the former Minister of Health of North Ossetia stated that there were no reports or requests from Adyrkhaev.

The case was submitted to the court in 2025, during the debates the prosecutor requested a four-year prison sentence for Adyrkhaev, while the defense insisted on acquittal.

One of the grounds for the decision to return the case to the prosecutor was the conclusions of the forensic medical examination, in which the court found no causal link between the deficiencies in medical assistance and the patients' deaths. Additionally, the court considered that the violations of the chief physician's duties in the indictment were not sufficiently specified.

Previously, the court ordered the chief physician to pay two million rubles to the victims, the decision was upheld on appeal, but the cassation court returned the case for reconsideration. The judge who issued the initial decision recused herself, as she considers the decision lawful. The other judges of the Alagir District Court were unable to consider the dispute due to recusals and self-recusals, and the question of transferring the civil case to another district court in North Ossetia is being resolved.

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