Overview

• Russia’s Investigative Committee said lethal methanol was detected in six more bodies from the Volosovsky district, raising the September death toll to 25.
• Three suspects are in custody and awaiting trial as investigators pursue a case linked to counterfeit spirits in rural parts of the Leningrad region, including Slantsy.
• Regional officials earlier logged at least 19 alcohol-related deaths this month, with eight laboratory-confirmed as methanol poisoning at that stage.
• Russian media reported that a 60-year-old kindergarten worker is suspected of supplying raw alcohol and that authorities seized more than 1,000 liters of counterfeit liquor.
• The surge in fatalities echoes past mass poisonings in Russia despite tighter laws after the 2016 Irkutsk tragedy and a 2023 case involving counterfeit cider.