Russian law enforcement authorities said Tuesday that they arrested the administrator and an 18-year-old resident of a privately run rehab center outside Moscow following accusations that minors there were subjected to physical and psychological abuse.
A 16-year-old boy, who is another resident of the Dedovsk center, was hospitalized Sunday unconscious and with multiple injuries to his head, torso and limbs, as well as marks consistent with being bound at the wrists and ankles, according to the Moscow region’s Investigative Committee.
The regional prosecutor’s office said the teenager remained in critical condition. He also suffered from a chronic illness that had gone untreated at the center, said Tatiana Vitusheva, head of the Istrinsky district, which includes the town of Dedovsk.
The Dedovsk center housed 24 minors aged 11 to 17 who had been sent there for treatment of drug and alcohol addiction.
Investigators said the facility had been operating illegally since August and that children “were subjected to beatings and torture.”
The state-run broadcaster Ren TV aired footage of police officers storming the Dedovsk center on Sunday night. The building was later sealed off after authorities ordered employees and residents to leave the center.
Prosecutors said 22 minors were inside at the time of the raid, alleging they had been kept in isolation and had limited access to food and water. Some have since been returned to their legal guardians, while others were placed in a family care center.
A court ordered the administrator of the Dedovsk center to be held in pre-trial detention on charges of torture, illegal detention of minors, providing unsafe services and intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm.
Vitusheva said the administrator was the facility’s only employee. She added that investigators are determining whether the rehab center’s owner, Anna Khobotova, was aware of its illegal operation.
A court ruling on the 18-year-old resident accused of participating in the abuse is expected on Wednesday.
Ren TV published an interview with the resident’s mother, Olesya Yefanova, who denied the allegations against her daughter. She claimed her daughter, Milana, was undergoing treatment at the center for screen addiction since May 2024 and had been showing signs of improvement.
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