UrBC, Moscow, June 15, 2015. Russia’s Health Ministry reports the number of deaths registered in Sverdlovsk Region is alarmingly high; Minister Veronika Skvortsova informed Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev of the problem at a recent demographic policy meeting.

‘In 37 Russian constituencies, the number of deaths exceeded those of births. Jewish Autonomous region, Kursk, Ivanovo, Lipetsk, Orel, Sverdlovsk, and Tambov Region look particularly worrying in this respect,’ the Minister said.

According to Skvortsova, several cases of supermortality at specific hospitals (and relating to specific doctors) were registered in Sverdlovsk Region in particular. For one, this was the case of Dr. Voronina in Sukhoi Log.

The Minister also said 29 health ministers from local governments had been fired after an inquiry into their performance in the last two years. However, Sverdlovsk Region’s health minister was not among those.