A diploma bought online, five years on the wards, then head of the hospital: the Novocherkassk infectious diseases hospital case that ended in a suspended sentence

Russia is a popular destination for medical students from South Asia and Africa, and anyone who later asks a home regulator to recognise a Russian diploma depends on Russian medical paperwork being honest. According to Vechernyaya Moskva, as carried by News.mail.ru, a forged medical diploma is punished in Russia like any other forged document, with a fine of up to 80,000 roubles or up to six months' arrest. The Association of Healthcare Managers wants three to five years in prison, and the paper says spot checks have exposed more than 60 people posing as doctors.

According to Kommersant, citing the regional FSB press service, Yuri Khoroshevsky was hired as a doctor at the Novocherkassk infectious diseases hospital in July 2020 on documents claiming a higher medical education and a completed internship. Kommersant and Bloknot Rostov both reported that he had bought them online and that his wife was the hospital's chief physician at the time. Bloknot Rostov added that the same year he won the interregional award 'Doctor with a capital D'. In 2025, Kommersant reported, he was appointed head of the hospital.

Kommersant reported that police opened a case in June 2025 under Article 327 part 3 of the Criminal Code, the use of forged documents, on FSB operational material, and that the Investigative Committee opened a second case in August 2025 under Article 285 part 1, abuse of official powers. According to both outlets, as head of the hospital he allegedly had subordinates admit people who received no treatment, so that the hospital could claim payments from the Rostov Region Territorial Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund. Novocherkassk City Court found him guilty on all counts and gave him one year and six months' imprisonment, suspended.

The check that failed was the one at the door. Nothing in the reports suggests that the hospital confirmed the diploma with the issuing institution, or that anyone revisited the question when he was promoted, even though Vechernyaya Moskva notes that Russian diplomas can be checked on the federal FIS FRDO register. The forgery was exposed by the security service, not by the hospital or the regional health authority, five years after the hiring.

For a student weighing a seat in Russia, the lesson is about who does the checking. An agent's admission letter will be checked by nobody unless you do it yourself. Confirm the university in the World Directory of Medical Schools, write to its international office to confirm that your admission exists, and pay tuition only into the university's account. Keep your originals, because your home regulator will one day verify every paper against the issuing institution. Fake Russian 'scholarships' sold to African students are recorded elsewhere on this site.