Appalling brutality against young children in Far East Russian orphanage

Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a probe into evidence of grotesque child abuse and the Kremlin's ombudsman for children demanded local officials are held responsible for scenes which many would find impossible to view.

The director of orphanage has been fired and his deputies suspended, it was reported. 

Two staff at the orphanage in Amur region - both believed to be in their teens - are being investigated for torture over the footage which raises deep questions over the way children are cared for in orphanages at a time when a ban has been placed on adoptions of orphans by Americans.

Seven partially clothed boys are shown lined up against a wall as the cruel 'carer' calls them forward for punishment. Grabbing them by the arm, she repeatedly and viciously lashes them, ignoring their screams of agony. She also kicks the children. The bodies of the boys were later found to be covered with lash marks. 

It is believed the boys shown in the footage - apparently shot on mobile phones - are aged between seven and ten. 

The 'carer' shown in the footage is aged 17 and was herself an orphan in another orphanage, it is believed.  She is smiling and smirking while beating the children. The horrific scenes are from the Mazanovsky orphanage in the village of Pionersky, in Amur region. 

Some staff at the orphanage, which houses 129 needy children, complain that their warnings about beatings of children were earlier ignored. It is unclear why they did not call the police. Others claimed they only heard of the abuse from police after investigations began into the sickening footage. 

One member of staff challenged the bullying 'carer' shown in the video and was told: 'I was beaten in the orphanage, and I'm going to beat them too'.

The is understood the teenager seen inflicting the punishment - with no senior member of the orphanage staff in sight - has been detained along with another 'carer' accused of cruelty. 

'The state represented by the regional government did not see, and has not noticed the moment, when instead of educating the children, they began to destroy their psyches. The regional authorities have to take responsibility for this', said children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov.

'Cruelty and violence among children is a scary and dangerous trend, which the whole world must battle, uniting the efforts of society and the government'.