Cynthia Ezegwu
At least 19 people have died this month from suspected alcohol poisoning in Russia’s western Leningrad region, local officials confirmed on Friday.
The regional government’s press service said in a statement that the deaths were recorded in the Slantsy District in September, with laboratory tests confirming methanol poisoning in eight of the cases.
Authorities have detained a man and a woman after investigators opened a criminal case into the mass poisoning, which has been linked to counterfeit alcohol sales.
Russia has long battled widespread alcohol abuse and recurring tragedies involving cheap home-made or surrogate alcohol. Earlier this week, prosecutors handed down prison sentences of nearly 10 years each to two people convicted of manufacturing and selling counterfeit cider that killed 50 people in 2023.
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A similar tragedy in 2016 saw more than 60 people die in Irkutsk, Siberia, after consuming contraband bath oil laced with methanol. That incident prompted the government to tighten alcohol control laws.
Despite these measures, counterfeit and home-brewed alcohol remain prevalent, especially in rural areas where poverty is high and vodka prices remain out of reach for many residents.