In a chilling development from Sochi, Russia, an influencer has been handed an eight-year prison sentence for the tragic death of his one-month-old son, whom he deliberately starved under the belief that sunlight exposure would grant the infant supernatural abilities.
The infant, named Kosmos, reportedly succumbed to malnutrition and pneumonia while being rushed to the hospital.
As per a report by Metro, Kosmos was born at home against the wishes of the boy’s mother, Oksana Mironova, who was prevented from seeking medical care at a maternity hospital by the accused influencer, Maxim Lyutyi.
Following Kosmos’s birth, Lyutyi imposed a strict vegan ‘prana’ diet on the baby, emphasizing foods like berries believed to enhance spiritual energy.
When Lyutyi finally took the ailing infant to the hospital on March 8 last year, it was tragically too late, with Kosmos in such a severe state of malnutrition that he could not be saved.
Doctors pronounced the 3.5-pound baby dead, leading to the arrest of both parents. In a social media post from January, Lyutyi hinted at an early release, but he now faces over eight years in a high-security prison after pleading guilty to ‘intentional infliction of serious bodily harm’ last week.
Olesya Nikolayeva, the wife’s cousin, condemned Lyutyi’s actions, revealing that he forbade the baby from being fed, insisting that sunlight alone would suffice. Nikolayeva lamented, “How can sunlight feed a baby? A baby needs his mother’s milk.”
Reports further indicate that Lyutyi spurned conventional medical treatment, subjecting Kosmos to cold baths under the misguided belief that it would strengthen the infant. During his time in prison, Lyutyi renounced his previous convictions, including his dietary preferences.
Mironova’s mother voiced her opposition to her daughter’s involvement with Lyutyi, expressing concern over her daughter’s diminishing autonomy.
Moreover, a relative disclosed Lyutyi’s ambition to raise his son as a practitioner of sun-only sustenance, underscoring the influencer’s extreme and harmful beliefs.
