A lifestyle blogger dad has been jailed for eight years for causing the death of his newborn son by demanding he live off sunlight instead of food and milk.
Maxim Lyutyi, 44, and his partner Oxana Mironova, 34, failed to properly feed their baby Cosmos, who died of “pneumonia and wasting” when he was less than a month old.
The Russian father will serve his sentence in a high-security prison colony.
He took the baby away from his mother for a day at a time, “draping him in cold water to harden him,” news outlet Mash reported.
‘The little body could not withstand the abuse: exhaustion developed and breathing problems appeared. But even in this state the child was not shown to the doctors.’
Blogger Maxim Lyutyi, 44, pleads guilty to torturing his son by insisting he survive on sunlight instead of food.
The Russian father will serve his eight-year sentence in a high-security prison colony
Blogger Maxim Lyutyi, 44, pleads guilty to torturing his son by insisting he survive on sunlight instead of food.
Mironova (right), 34, admitted her guilt and regretted her son’s death. Lyutyi (left) faces a separate trial accused of torturing her newborn baby.
Lyutyi has long campaigned for highly restrictive diets based on raw ingredients.
Lyutyi “intentionally caused grievous bodily harm” to Cosmos by insisting the baby be fed primarily by sunlight, the Sochi court heard.
He admitted his guilt in a court appearance last week after previously attempting to shift the blame to Mironova, who already received a non-custodial sentence of two years of “correctional labor.”
He had claimed that she had an iron deficiency which caused the death of the baby who weighed three and a half pounds.
Lyutyi told the court he was guilty of “negligence.” “I admit my guilt,” she said. ‘If I knew that my son was born prematurely, that his mother had contraindications for pregnancy, then at the first symptoms of the child’s illness.
‘I would immediately contact a hospital, regardless of the mother’s wishes and beliefs…’
He urged potential couples to take care of their health before conception and pay more attention to the baby than he did.
In video he said: “Your Honor, distinguished court, I continue to insist [I did not deliberately kill my child…].
‘This is purely a crime of negligence… without such intention. I emphasize once again that I loved my son and cared for him.’
Lyutyi was detained for a year and was found to be eating meat (pasta with stew) ignoring his own philosophy.
The court had previously been told that Lyutyi wanted to raise the newborn on prana, a diet in which people go for a long time without food or water and “feed on the sun”.
He was accused of preventing Mironova from breastfeeding the child and described as a “radical raw food fanatic.”
“He wanted to experiment with the child, feeding him exclusively sunshine and then announcing to others that this is how you can eat it,” said a source.
A judicial official said Lyutyi was also fined £860.
Oxana’s mother, Galina, accused the sinister Lyutyi of leading a “cult.”
Lyutyi is seen in a cage in a courtroom in the middle of his trial.
Lifestyle coach Maxim Lyutyi (pictured), 44, wanted to raise the newborn on prana, a diet in which people go a long time without food or water and “feed on the sun,” according to reports. it states.
Mironova has already received a non-custodial sentence of two years of “correctional labor”
Oxana Mironova, 34, convicted by a Russian court of starving her son and sentenced to two years of prison labor.
Guards take Mironova out of the courtroom
“I was against my daughter being in this sect,” he said. I felt everything and told her that Maxim was crazy, but she didn’t listen to me. Oxana lived there like a guinea pig. She became increasingly colder towards me…she was her slave.’
Another relative of Mironiva said: ‘Oxana told me she was afraid of him. She wanted to leave him many times, but he stopped her… she wanted to raise [his son into] a man who only eats the sun.’
Oxana’s cousin Olesya Nikolayeva said: “He forced her not to feed the baby.” Her boyfriend believed that the sun was feeding the baby.
‘Oxana was secretly trying to breastfeed the baby, but she was very afraid of Maxim. How is it possible to feed the baby with sunlight? A baby needs his mother’s milk.’
Lyutyi had given birth to her son at home and refused to allow Oxana to go to a maternity hospital.
They finally decided to take the emaciated child to the doctor, but the medical staff could do nothing to save the terribly malnourished baby.
Oxana’s mother previously said she sent her daughter money to help her in any way she could, but was unable to get her enough food under the watchful eye of her partner.
‘(Lyutyi) forbade him to feed the child. Oxana told me that she fed the baby secretly, but that she didn’t have enough money, because he didn’t give her anything.
‘I sent money to Oxana for food from my pension. She secretly bought baby food.