'Vegan guru' who starved baby to death on 'sunlight diet' appeals 8-year sentence

A deluded father starved his newborn son to death after making him live off sunlight and subjected him to cold baths to "toughen him up" – and is now appealing his jail sentence.

Vegan blogger Maxim Lyutyi, 44, from Krasnodar, southern , is appealing his eight-month prison sentence, saying that he "loved" and "cared" for his son, Cosmos. The one-month-old tragically died from starvation and pneumonia. The court heard that the self-styled influencer even blocked his partner Oxana Mironova, 34, from breastfeeding him.

At his original trial in April, it was found that Lyutyi instructed his followers to live a prana - where people live off minimal food and water and “feed on the sun." Despite his strict rules, he is said to have indulged in full meals including meat, pasta and thick stews.

His son was born and received no vaccination shots. Instead, his trial heard, the child was immediately initiated into the harsh starvation regime he advocated to his disciples. Now Lyutyi is to appeal his conviction at an open court hearing on November 13, according to local media.

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Followers of his extreme regime said: "Maxim was accused undeservedly of what he did not do. Thanks to the media, his partner, his 'friends', and the legal bodies he was slandered, humiliated, made a scapegoat and simply torn to pieces." Judges found Lyutyi guilty of causing death by intentional negligence after he admitted: "Your Honour, distinguished court, I still insist I did not deliberately kill my child. This is purely a crime of negligence without such intent. I emphasise once again that I loved my son and cared for him.” His partner had earlier received a non-custodial sentence of two years of “correctional labour”.

Over in , a girl's parents reportedly forced her to live off a strict vegan diet and intense dance workouts. The girl, who has not been named to protect her identity, weighed just 4.4st and was a mere 4ft 8ins just before her 17th birthday. Shocked doctors described her weight at the time as a nine-year-old. The case going through the Western Australia District said the girl, from Perth, claims her dad changed her birth certificate to make it look like she was only 14. She also underwent homeschooling and was made to take part in intensive dance training.

Parents of fellow dance students and the girl's teachers filed complaints to Australia's Department of Communities and an into her living conditions was launched in late 2020. After being told to take his daughter to a doctor, he instead went to a GP and asked for a letter to state her daughter was healthy, a court heard. However, the doctor said she was malnourished with delayed puberty and flagged that there appeared to be a "blatant lack of parental concern" about the girl's health.

Doctors later diagnosed her with grade 4 before ordering X-rays and a feeding tube was inserted inside her for five days as they worked on a meal plan. Following a 50-day stint in hospital, the girl managed to gain 1.1st and grew 1.3ins. The court heard the girl was treated like a small child who watched Teletubbies and Thomas and Tank Engine. Her parents gave her a Barbie doll on her 17th birthday and attempted to organise a Disney Princess visit. Despite this, she showed "no cognitive impairment" regarding her piano skills and schoolwork. The trial is ongoing.