TheJournal.ie uses cookies. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Click here to find out more »
Dublin: 15 °C Saturday 25 May, 2013

Russian police find 250 foetuses dumped in mountain woods

The foetuses – stored in four vats – were probably aborted later than is legally allowed under Russian law.

A file photo of woods in the Ural mountains, where the 250 abandoned embryos were found at the weekend.
A file photo of woods in the Ural mountains, where the 250 abandoned embryos were found at the weekend.
Image: alexeya via Flickr.com

ALMOST 250 FOETUSES have been found stored in four huge vats in woods in Russia’s Urals after apparently being illegally dumped by local hospitals that carried out abortions, police said today.

Four huge 50-litre vats of formaldehyde, with dozens of foetuses stashed inside, were found by local residents while taking a Sunday stroll through woods 45 miles north of Yekaterinburg, the capital of the Sverdlovsk region.

Arriving yesterday morning, police found 248 foetuses aged 12-16 weeks with tags containing surnames and numbers, said a statement by the regional police force.

“I think that soon we will find out who has dropped the embryos and all the guilty will be punished,” said the deputy head of the Sverdlovsk government Vladimir Vlasov.

A spokesperson of the local police said that the foetuses appear to have been illegally dumped after abortions by local hospitals which treated them as “biological waste”.

The numbers on the tags — such as 40, 24, 27 and 14 — probably refer to the numbers of hospitals the foetuses originated from. In Russia, hospitals and schools are usually known by a number rather than a name.

Many details show “the criminal character of what was found”, said Elena Mizulina, the president of the family, women and children committee in the State Duma.

“About 5-6 million illegal abortions are done every year in Russia. According to the size of the foetus, the abortions were done when it is already illegal,” she told the Izvestia daily. ”Probably, the medical workers wanted to get rid of the evidence.”

Russian law allows abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

- © AFP, 2012

Read next:

Comments (28 Comments)

  • Nothing is worse than mans inhumanity to man, and this lowers the bar considerably. not even the respect of a burial or cremation.

    Reply
    • The one and only comment of any importance. The rest are irrevalent.

      Reply
    • I agree with Eoin but am surprised at the number of thumbs up. Usually the voters on this site are very pro-abortion and will red-thumb anything that ascribes humanity to a 12 week old foetus. Why the discrepancy? Is it not “just a cluster of cells” as so many here have commented?

      Do those of you who think it’s “a woman’s right to choose” also think that woman should choose to have a funeral afterwards?

      Reply
  • Does anyone else find the use of the word ‘stashed’ in this situation a little off?

    Reply
  • paul 24/07/12 #

    I can’t even imagine debating this in Russia. those medical staff are toast I’m afraid.

    Reply
    • Poppy
      I totally totally agree with you, I’m on the fence about abortion, and if my daughter was raped I would, if she was, be in agreement with abortion, likewise if a mother with young kids was pregnant and life was seriously in danger, then yes. However, I have a son 24, and he has friend born at 25 weeks, almost 25 years ago, there’s nothing between them in any way, I also have a severely intellectually disabled nephew (23), who has changeling needs that impact on his only sibling, but he’s also thought us all a lot about tolerance. So it’s a very difficult one to be at peace with!

      Reply
  • louise 24/07/12 #

    Sick

    Reply
  • i am more disturbed by the comments than the story. regardless of whether you are pro or anti abortion please get some pespective here. This is shocking. So callous. and very hard on the women who chose this path. for whatever reason. to just dump the foetuses… depressing no matter what your beliefs are.

    Reply
    • Where we’re they going to put them?? The sad part ain’t where they end up! I know a few people who worked in clinics and this is abortion! Only they weren’t properly disposed of! Do people think there is a little funeral after every abortion or something ?

      Reply
  • That was quick! Three comments while I was typing …

    Reply
  • Also, you don’t “perform embryos” – as in your sub-head. (‘The embryos – stored in four vats – were probably performed later than is legally allowed under Russian law’.)

    Reply
  • Formaldehyde – retards. This would preserve the crime scene. n

    Reply
  • Poppy 24/07/12 #

    Why do people find this information so distasteful ? It’s the reality of abortion….would it be more comfortable if they were incinerated ? Our of sight out of mind ?

    Reply
    • You are very wrong. This is not the reality of abortion. This is abortion done incorrectly! Inaccurate generalised statements like yours only increase the misunderstanding of what an abortion is…

      Reply
    • As for anyone disliking the post, explain how you disagree or prove that what I said is true but you don’t like it for some other reason you don’t want to justify…

      Reply
    • Poppy 24/07/12 #

      What exactly is abortion then ?? What’s the difference in a few weeks ?? 24 weeks or 28 week ? Much of a muchness ?? But let’s pretend there’s a big difference so people don’t feel bad.

      (By the way….I’d never judge or condemn anyone who has an abortion as I haven’t walked in their shoes & I couldn’t say I wouldn’t avail of it if I was raped. I still believe in choice but also believe its wrong)

      Reply
    • This is the reality of abortion Fergal. Whether done legally or illegal ( and which case applies here remains unclear) there is the same outcome: a tiny heart stops beating; a tiny body is dumped.

      Reply
    • That is such bullshit. In legal abortions the fortis is often so underdeveloped it does not even have a “heart” as we think of it and the “body” (which doesn’t exist btw if we’re actually going to be correct) is never thrown in vats and left in a woods! Cop onto yourselves…

      Reply
    • sakipol 25/07/12 #

      Extraordinary tho it may seem, abortion is legal to 24weeks in the UK – twice the age of the Russian foetuses.

      Heartbeat is present from 6 weeks.

      And as for not being left in a vat in the woods. I’m not sure being disposed of in medical waste is any more respectful. They certainly don’t get a ceremonial burial or cremation.

      I understand your surprise. It isn’t at all what you expect from a “civilised” culture.

      Reply
  • Guys, from the 12-16 weeks it’s a foetus rather than an embryo. Just saying.

    Reply
  • A baby’s heart begins to beat at 5 weeks gestation. Every abortion case it heartbreaking.

    Reply
  • This is a prime example of the inhumanity and heartlessness which exists within human beings, if you can call them that. Such a sad a disturbing piece of news which morally questions the basis of abortion.

    Reply
  • So sad! Poor little mites. What a dreadful shock for the people who found them. This is the reality though. Just reading a book which includes how traumatised abortion clinic staff can be when seeing little body parts. Not the blobs of cells that people often imagine.

    Reply

Add New Comment