At least 19 people have died this month from suspected alcohol poisoning in the Leningrad region of western Russia.
The deaths occurred in the Slantsy District, and local officials have confirmed that the cause of death for at least eight of the victims was methanol poisoning. Two individuals—a man and a woman—have been detained in connection with the case. They are suspected of manufacturing and selling counterfeit alcohol that contained the toxic substance.
This tragedy is the latest in a series of similar incidents that have plagued Russia for years. The high price of legal alcohol often drives people to consume cheap, illegally produced substitutes, which can contain highly toxic substances like methanol, a type of industrial alcohol. Methanol poisoning can cause blindness, organ failure, and death, even in small doses.
Authorities have been actively working to combat this issue. In 2023, two individuals were sentenced to prison after selling counterfeit cider that killed 50 people. The most notorious incident occurred in 2016 in Irkutsk, Siberia, when more than 60 people died after drinking a poisonous bath oil that contained methanol.
