Dad admits to causing death of one-month-old son who died due to starvation after being fed only berries

A dad has admitted causing the death of his one-month-old son, who was starved to death and died weighing only three pounds.

Maxim Lyutyi, who is a raw food influencer and extreme dieter, allegedly said he wanted to "raise a man who only eats the sun". Believing it was making his baby stronger, he imposed a strict vegan diet on him and allowed him to eat only berries. The tot, who was called Kosmos, died from starvation in Russia on March 8 2023 and his father, along with his mother, were arrested.

The court previously heard that the tot's mother, Oxsana Mironova, was a "slave" to her boyfriend. Relatives of Mironova claimed she was controlled by Lyutyi. They also alleged that, as a result of her dietary choices, she suffered from an iron deficiency. This, they said, was also the cause of the problems then inflicted on their child.

Lawyer Alexey Avanesyan told the court: "Several years before meeting Lyutyi, Mironova opted for the vegan lifestyle. Premature babies, children of mothers suffering from iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy are at risk."

Lyutyi, who reportedly wanted to experiment on his son to make him like Superman, is accused of “intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm against a minor with bullying” and “improper performance of educational duties”. The 43-year-old is known as a "radical raw foodist".

The court, however, also found that Mironova, age 33, has to share some of the responsibility and previously found her guilty of failure to fulfill her parental responsibilities and failure to provide assistance to an infant. She was sentenced to two years of hard labour.

The court trying her case, in the Krasnodar Territory, had said: "Mironova did not interfere with her partner in any way, leaving the child in a condition dangerous to life and health, although she was obliged to provide him with help and take care of him. She also improperly fulfilled her parental responsibilities."

The couple reportedly believe in a diet called prana-eating, where people go without food and water for a long time and “feed on the sun". They had supposedly tried to keep their baby alive using raw fruit instead of breastmilk, it was earlier revealed in court. Lyutyi had supposedly banned Mironova from giving their child her breastmilk, although she was said to have tried to give it to him when his father was away.

The youngster is suspected of suffering from pneumonia and emaciation after starvation near the Black Sea resort city of Sochi. The couple had eventually sought medical attention for their son at a hospital, but it was too late.

It is thought that the baby developed pneumonia after Lyutyi's attempted to make the boy immune to illness by spraying him with cold water and forcing him to have cold showers. He told police that he rejected conventional medicine did not trust doctors and also delivered his son unaided at home.

Lyutyi, who has been held in a Russian detention jail for more than a year, is facing a lengthy prison sentence for his son's death. Judges were previously told he pleaded not guilty to causing his son's death by negligence and blamed his wife for the baby's health, however, he has recently changed his plea to guilty and admitted he did cause the death of his son.

The case continues and Lyutyi is due to be sentenced next week.