Chief doctor of an Ingush perinatal centre accused of embezzlement

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Magassy District Court has remanded Madina Khutieva, the chief doctor of Nazran’s perinatal centre, to pre-trial detention on charges of embezzling more than ₽8.7 million ($87,000). The centre has previously faced scrutiny over the deaths of several women and newborn infants.

According to the investigation, Khutieva concluded a contract for the supply of goods with a single supplier without an auction and paid for them at the expense of the health insurance fund, although in reality the goods were not delivered. The authorities believe Khutieva was assisted by the chief accountant of the perinatal centre, identified only as Tsechoeva, individual entrepreneur, also identified only as Matsieva, and ‘other unidentified persons’.

‘These funds they further disposed of at their discretion,’ the Supreme Court of Ingushetia reported.

The criminal case was initiated under the article ‘fraud on a particularly large scale’, which provides for up to 10 years imprisonment. Khutieva has been remanded in custody until 31 March.

Searches at the perinatal centre took place in the evening of 29 January and lasted several hours.

A few days earlier, the Department of the Investigative Committee for Ingushetia opened a criminal case under the article ‘causing death by negligence’ following the death of Khava Yevloeva in hospital. Relatives spoke about the deterioration of her condition during treatment at the perinatal centre.

This is far from the first high-profile scandal at the centre. The most resonant was the story of Madina Ausheva, a 37-year-old mother of six who, due to the negligence of doctors, fell into a coma in 2021 and died on 15 July 2024 without regaining consciousness. Following this case, the head doctor of the perinatal centre, Lyudmila Khalukhaeva, was fired. However, it later became known that she only left the position of head doctor, and continued to work at the centre as an obstetrician-gynaecologist.

In February 2022, law enforcement agencies initiated a criminal case of negligence against the centre’s doctors for providing unqualified care to three women in labour and their children. One of the women subsequently died, one child went into a coma, and a second child died.

Even earlier, in 2018, Makka Khamuratova, a mother of six, reportedly fell into a coma at the perinatal centre. Although she has since woken up from the coma, she remains paralysed.

Elizaveta Chukharova •

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Liza was born and raised in Vladikavkaz and now lives in Prague. She has previously worked for RFE/RL, ASTRA, Belsat, and others. She is currently completing her Master's degree in Russian Studies at Charles University in Prague, specialising in the study of military and inter-ethnic conflicts in the North Caucasus. In her free time, Liza shoots feature films, writes about cinema, and travels — she has visited exactly 50 countries and is not going to stop there.