Poisoned trail: the father of the children who died from dichlorvos was found guilty

The father of four children who died almost a year ago from dichlorvos in the Krasnoyarsk village of Krasnaya Sopka was sentenced to two years of probation. This was reported in the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the region. Details about how the trial took place and what is known about this case can be found in the Izvestia article.

How did the case of the death of children from dichlorvos go?

The case of the terrible tragedy in the family of Dmitry and Victoria Vinogradov has ended. The father of four children from the Krasnoyarsk village of Krasnaya Sopka was sentenced to two years of probation and three more years of probation. This was reported in the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the region.

The man's lawyer at the trial asked to acquit the defendant, arguing that he could not have guessed about such severe consequences of the use of insecticide. The defense also expressed doubts about the reliability of the examinations. In his speech, the defendant asked "not to judge strictly."

At the time of the article's publication, it was reported that the defense had not yet decided to appeal the verdict.

The tragedy occurred almost a year ago, in September 2024. Four Vinogradov children, aged 6, 11, 12 and 13, died in the hospital within a day after being poisoned by an unknown substance. Traces of a toxic substance were also found on the fur of the deceased kitten. The parents themselves spent several days in intensive care, but coped with the effects of poisoning. At the time of the tragedy, Victoria Vinogradova was 9 months pregnant.

Initially, investigators believed that the poisoning could have been caused by food purchased at a local store: the family bought a pack of dumplings and raw chicken. In the morning, all the family members felt worse — they felt sick and had a stomach ache. Then the Investigative Committee (IC) opened a criminal case under Part 3 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Production, storage or sale of goods and products that do not meet the requirements for the safety of life or health of consumers, resulting in the death of two persons by negligence"). However, this version has not been confirmed.

On December 2 of the same year, it became known that the cause of poisoning was precisely the improper use of dichlorvos. The investigation found that the head of the family randomly sprayed insecticide, and drops of the substance got on furniture, dishes, food and things. In addition, Dmitry Vinogradov did not follow the recommendations on precautionary measures: the room was not ventilated and wet cleaning of all treated surfaces was not done.

"I really didn't leave the house to air out all night, the children entered the house because there was no smell of Dichlorvos," the children's father said during the investigation.

The next day, Dmitry Vinogradov was charged under Part 3 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Causing death by negligence"). The man admitted his guilt, although he doubted that the insecticide was to blame.

"If it's really dichlorvos, then, of course, yes, I sprayed it, but I don't believe it's dichlorvos," the father of the dead children said at the time.

Tragic finale: father of four dead children indicted

The family left their home in Krasnoyarsk Krai and are raising their newborn son in a new place

In February 2025, it became known that the Vinogradovs' fifth child, who was born healthy, also died at the age of three months. The criminal case was terminated due to the lack of evidence of a crime.

"The child's death occurred as a result of mechanical asphyxia due to the closure of the respiratory tract with stomach contents," the Investigative Committee for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Khakassia said.