A patient of the boarding house near Tikhoretsk complained about labor exploitation.

Residents of the Ternovsky psycho-neurological boarding house in the Krasnodar region are being engaged in earthworks without a labor contract and payment, claims an acquaintance of one of them. The patient himself complained to the Investigative Committee about forced labor and questionable prescriptions for medications.

The psycho-neurological boarding house is located in the village of Ternovskaya, about 30 kilometers from Tikhoretsk. An acquaintance of Alexander Sviridov, who lives in the boarding house and has visited the institution, reported that patients are being engaged in unpaid labor without their consent.

In video footage, the authenticity of which was confirmed by a witness to the work, people are digging the ground on the territory of the boarding house. In one recording, a section with a high concrete wall and a strip of fresh earth at the edge of the site is visible. Five people are digging the soil with shovels along the building, and three garden carts are standing on the site, with a man loading soil into one of them. In another recording, nine people are working with shovels and filling carts with soil, reports the publication "Such Cases" 1 .

According to Sviridov's acquaintance, people are not asked if they want to do the work. "They say: 'There is work today, go do it.' And they go. Everything is done for free, no money is paid for it," she says. According to the woman, sometimes for such labor, patients "might be given a kilogram of dumplings for everyone, or they might not be given anything at all."

Alexander is 27 years old and lives in the Ternovsky boarding house. He has a third group of disability related to intellectual impairments, difficulties in communication, and behavior control, but the young man is not incapacitated.

Sviridov told his acquaintance that patients help builders on the first floor of the boarding house and often carry heavy loads. Sometimes patients are taken to the village to dig gardens, being presented as "volunteers." For such outings, they sometimes receive money or food.

In addition to being forced to work, Sviridov complained about high doses of medications that he has been given recently. "After taking them, his hands tremble, he feels nauseous, his tongue gets tangled. He has aged and swollen. And his complexion has become somewhat gray," describes his condition, his acquaintance.

In mid-September, Sviridov recorded a video message to the chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin. In the message, he states that medications are given to him without consent. "I have a headache, nausea, lethargy, drowsiness, my joints hurt and ache, I have started gaining weight despite poor nutrition," he lists.

The patient's acquaintance contacted the Investigative Committee at the end of August and attached all the videos to the application, including recordings of the work. She requested to check whether Sviridov's rights are being violated in the boarding house, to conduct an independent forensic medical examination for him, and to consider transferring him to another institution. She separately reported that the man's health has deteriorated.

Video about violence in the Ingush boarding house pointed to the problem of controlling closed institutions

At the end of September and beginning of October, the central office of the Investigative Committee instructed the Krasnodar department to check the "improper provision of medical assistance to Sviridov, as well as other issues." The results of the check are unknown.

Residents of the boarding house have the right to work only under a labor contract, says lawyer and former employee of the social house "Obruchevsky" Anton Cheltzov. They can work, for example, as cleaners or laborers.

Another option is occupational therapy, which is prescribed by a doctor. It usually includes one-time jobs. "For example, cleaning leaves in autumn, snow in winter, painting walls," Cheltzov explained.

If there is neither a contract nor a doctor's prescription, the use of residents' labor is illegal. "If they were forced to do something, especially if they were incapacitated, this is a clear violation," says the lawyer.

Involuntary labor is prohibited in any form, and the rights of a boarding house resident are no different from the rights of other people, reminded Anna Udyarova, a lawyer for the charitable organization "Perspectives." According to her, a resident who is voluntarily willing to work should have a contract signed and labor guarantees observed, including those related to disability.

A capable person should be explained what medications are being given to him and why, says Cheltzov. Any treatment, including taking medications, is conducted in the interests of the patient, adds Udyarova, acknowledging that in practice this is often not observed in boarding houses. To challenge questionable prescriptions in the institution, a person needs to obtain an alternative opinion from a doctor outside the boarding house. "Most people in the boarding house do not have access to this," the lawyer pointed out.

"Caucasian Knot" reported that in December 2024, a patient died after being beaten in a psycho-neurological boarding house in the Volgograd region. A sanitary worker was arrested, who admitted guilt in causing serious harm to health. In May 2021, it became known that a sanitary worker at a psycho-neurological boarding house in Yeysk beat a ward for refusing to go for a walk, as a result of which he died.

In August 2022, the Ministry of Labor of Ingushetia reported on conducting an inspection after complaints from relatives of patients that staff at the psycho-neurological boarding house in Psedakh were chaining them to the wall and not providing proper care. Two years later, the relatives of the patients noted that appeals to the prosecutor's office led to nothing meaningful.