Naumov's guardian sought to have the harsh sentence for the murder of 5-year-old Daler overturned.

      In Saint Petersburg the Second Appellate Court will review the high-profile case of the murder and cruel treatment of five-year-old Daler Bobiev in a foster family.

      According to the joint press service of the courts of the Sverdlovsk Region, the convicted Veronika Naumova and her nephew Daniil Egolnikov have appealed the sentence.

      The court’s decision was handed down at the end of July: Naumova was found guilty on 61 counts and sentenced to 24 years in prison. Egolnikov received five years in a penal colony for 11 crimes. At the same time, Naumova admitted guilt only in fraud — after the child’s death she continued to claim benefits in his name. Egolnikov, however, agreed with all the charges brought against him. In addition, the court ordered the former guardian to pay one million rubles to the boy’s biological father.

      The boy, whom the whole city had been searching for in the summer of 2023, was found dead in a garage.

      Naumova cynically pretended to be looking for the child along with everyone else, giving comments to journalists. But after the terrible discovery she became the first and only suspect in the brutal murder of the boy.

      Only after several forensic examinations was it determined that Daler’s cause of death was drowning. On that day Naumova beat the child once again and then drowned him in the bathtub.

      Veronika Naumova was charged under several articles, including murder, torture, fraud, unlawful deprivation of liberty, and involving minors in the commission of crimes.

      During the investigation it was established that the child’s death involved not only the guardian but also her husband, Alexander Naumov. He was sentenced to five years in prison, to be served in a penal colony, for torturing a minor.

      Employees of the guardianship authorities and of the orphanage from which the boy was given to the family were also sent to a penal colony.