The Zabaykalsky Krai Court has sentenced 28-year-old Raisa Tashlykova to 17 years in a general regime penal colony for the brutally cruel murder of her one-year-old daughter Darina following four days of torture in the town of Baley. Tashlykova was convicted on September 22 of murder committed with extreme cruelty against a helpless minor, intentional infliction of medium-severity bodily harm, and failure to fulfill parental duties. The court also restricted her parental rights over her two sons, the younger of whom was born in a pre-trial detention center following her arrest.
According to investigators and medical staff, the toddler suffered chemical and thermal burns across 25 to 30 percent of her body, severe traumatic brain injury, and fatal poisoning from 70 percent acetic acid. The girl died in the intensive care unit at Baley Central District Hospital on September 1, 2025, after being brought in by her mother and stepfather in critical condition.
On the morning of August 31, 2025, Tashlykova contacted her common-law husband, Roman Shestakov, by telephone and reported that Darina had developed red skin after being washed alongside her three-year-old brother Ivan. Shestakov, who was away working, urged Tashlykova to call an ambulance. Tashlykova refused because she feared authorities would strip her of her parental rights.
Emergency Response and Discovery
Shestakov arrived at their home on Snezhnaya Street around 21:00 to find Darina in severe distress, with peeled skin, facial swelling, and heavy wheezing. Because both of their mobile phones were unserviceable, Shestakov ran to a nearby store and pleaded with a driver operating a Zhiguli automobile to transport Tashlykova and the child to the hospital while he remained home with their son.
After midnight, Tashlykova returned home accompanied by a local police officer taking preliminary statements. Shestakov stated that Tashlykova told the officer that Darina had accidentally spilled a bottle of Belizna household bleach over herself, an explanation she had not mentioned to him earlier. Police seized the bleach bottle and left the residence.
Darina died in the intensive care unit at 15:20 on September 1, 2025. Police arrested Tashlykova on the evening of September 2 after an autopsy revealed extensive physical trauma, including cranial fractures, severe brain edema, and chemical burns to her oral cavity and digestive tract. Attending medical personnel reported that a powerful stench of vinegar emanated from the child, who was clad only in a diaper, causing their eyes to water.
Gold Mining Town Context
Baley is a town of just over 8,000 residents situated in Zabaykalsky Krai in eastern Russia, roughly 300 kilometers east of the regional capital of Chita and 100 kilometers from the Mongolian border. Founded in the 18th century as a Cossack border settlement, the town expanded rapidly in the late 19th century following the discovery of placer gold deposits, which were designated as personal property of the ruling Romanov family. The mines were nationalized during the Soviet era but became unprofitable and were exhausted by 2003, triggering a population decline from 25,000 residents three decades ago.
Tashlykova was born on February 9, 1998, in the nearby village of Kazachy Promysel, located 15 kilometers from Baley. She began living with Shestakov in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, though they did not formally register their marriage. Their son Ivan was born in 2022, followed by Darina on August 12, 2024.
Tashlykova left the line for paternal details blank on both birth certificates in order to claim state welfare benefits for single mothers. Relatives and legal proceedings established that Tashlykova had completed only nine years of schooling with difficulty, had never held employment, and was illiterate, unable to read or write.
Prior Official Checks and Warning Signs
Neighbors and family members testified during the investigation that the couple did not abuse alcohol and that their household appeared quiet. However, medical concerns had emerged months before the fatal incident. In October 2024, when Darina was three months old, she was admitted to an intensive care unit suffering from bleeding hematomas, facial scratches, and grade III protein-energy malnutrition. The infant weighed just over four kilograms instead of the expected six kilograms, recording a body mass index under 16.
Hospital staff notified the local administration and the commission on minors' rights. An inspection by a local inspector and police found adequate clothing and specialized food at the home, noting that Tashlykova cared for her son and did not consume alcohol. Because Tashlykova had summoned an ambulance herself when the infant regurgitated food and had traveled to Chita at her own expense for specialist care, officials concluded she was an attentive mother. A forensic examination detected no developmental abnormalities, and police declined to open a criminal case in January 2025.
Inspectors noted only that Darina slept in a stroller or alongside her mother rather than in a dedicated crib, and that unwashed dishes were present on the kitchen counter. However, witnesses later testified that the baby was extremely passive, unable to stand, crawl, or turn over at ten months old, sitting motionless like a doll. Witnesses stated that Darina cried whenever her mother approached but smiled and reached toward her father.
Because Tashlykova was unable to read, neighbors and sisters had to read baby formula preparation instructions aloud to her. In July 2025, doctors at Baley Central District Hospital reported Darina to social services a second time after Tashlykova brought her to the clinic with bleeding facial scratches and an unkempt appearance. Officials conducted another welfare check but again took no action, advising Tashlykova to maintain proper care while her partner worked shift employment.
Autopsy Findings and Medical Evidence
Forensic medical experts documented severe injuries resulting from Tashlykova's actions and her failure to seek timely medical attention. The examination recorded an avulsion of the epicondyles of the left humerus with soft tissue hemorrhage, alongside an avulsion of the head of the left humerus accompanied by a purulent abscess.
The victim sustained a closed traumatic brain injury featuring fractures of the cranial vault and base of the skull, a torn dura mater, partial crushing of the right cerebellar hemisphere, subarachnoid and intracerebral hemorrhages of the right occipital lobe, subdural hematoma of the spinal cord, and extensive hemorrhaging throughout the spinal column and occipital tissue. Experts also identified second and third degree burns covering 25 to 30 percent of her body surface across her head, neck, and torso.
Toxicological analysis confirmed acute acetic acid poisoning, showing ulcerative defects in the oral cavity and supraglottic region, as well as necrotic tissue damage throughout the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. Laboratory testing detected acetic acid concentrations of 0.457 percent in the esophagus, 0.639 percent in the stomach, 0.579 percent in the lungs, 0.588 percent in the liver, 0.560 percent in the kidneys, and 0.416 percent in the gallbladder. Forensic pathologists concluded that death resulted from a combination of toxic, burn, and traumatic shock, shock organ failure in the liver and kidneys, and severe cerebral and spinal edema.
Confessions and Changing Accounts
During her initial questioning, Tashlykova claimed Darina had fallen from a high chair while trying to retrieve a dropped doll, catching her arm in the frame and requiring her to unscrew four bolts to release her. She also claimed she had temporarily stored 70 percent acetic acid in a baby bottle, forgot to wash it due to a stuffed nose, and mixed formula inside it. Police placed Tashlykova in a pre-trial detention facility, where she gave birth to her second son, Pyotr, in October 2025.
Social services offered custody of the two boys to relatives. One of Tashlykova's sisters briefly took three-year-old Ivan into her home but returned him prior to Pyotr's birth because her husband objected to raising another child. Relatives, educators, and hospital personnel reported that Ivan repeatedly stated that his mother had killed the baby and would come back to kill them too.
Family members, including Olga Sidorova, testified that Tashlykova was a habitual liar from childhood. Under subsequent interrogation, Tashlykova altered her statements. She admitted that on August 27 she forcefully yanked Darina's left arm downward while massaging her. She stated that on August 29 she struck the crying child two or three times on the head with a metal ladle in the bathhouse. On August 30, irritated by the child's crying, Tashlykova poured half a liter of boiling water from a green metal mug over her as she lay on a bed, later manually peeling off the resulting blisters and burning them in a bathhouse furnace to conceal the evidence. On August 31, after Shestakov left to seek transport, Tashlykova poured 50 grams of 70 percent acetic acid into Darina's formula bottle, fed it to her, and wiped her burns with an acid-soaked towel.
Court Ruling and Official Scrutiny
Tashlykova re-enacted her actions during a video-recorded crime scene reconstruction on September 5, 2025, and provided a detailed confession on February 26, 2026. However, when her trial commenced before Judge Natalya Koreneva at the Zabaykalsky Krai Court on September 7, 2026, Tashlykova recanted all previous statements, asserting that the injuries were accidental and that she had confessed under the belief that she would be allowed to return home.
Public prosecutor Yana Berezhko, counselor of justice, stated that Tashlykova exhibited a cold demeanor throughout the trial, shedding tears only twice during her own testimony. Berezhko noted that the recorded crime scene reconstruction showed Tashlykova performing the abusive acts mechanically, which provided decisive evidence for the court. Psychiatric evaluations confirmed that Tashlykova was sane and legally accountable at the time of the offense.
During discussions regarding physical evidence, Shestakov declined ownership of all seized baby items and equipment, but requested the return of an electric kettle. The court sentenced Tashlykova to 17 years in prison on September 22, 2026, and restricted her parental rights over her surviving sons, who have been placed with foster caregivers. Prosecutor Berezhko requested special judicial rulings against local child welfare authorities and police for failing to intervene despite official reports submitted by Baley hospital doctors in October 2024 and July 2025.
The court also noted a separate, ongoing trial in Kamchatka Krai, where a 44-year-old female guardian holding a higher pedagogical degree is being tried by a jury for slowly killing a disabled girl over more than a year through starvation and medical neglect.
