Andrea Mazzarino, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, visited Russian orphanages as part of a human rights investigation into the conditions and potential abuses in the orphanage system, especially for children with disabilities. Mazzarino found that thousands of children with disabilities who are living in orphanages are, in fact, not orphans. These children, according to article, are subject to harmful treatment that has long been hidden from public view. Through her investigation, Mazzarino also discovered that well over 165,000 children live in state orphanages designated for children with disabilities, comprising nearly 50% of the country's orphanage population. In addition, the vast majority of children with disabilities living in Russian state orphanages have living parents but are often placed in orphanages after doctors give parents dire assessments of their child's prospects for development. Mazzarino emphasizes that better service could be achieved if the government focused on maintaining a network of support services to keep children with their families and in their communities, rather than relying on what is currently an abusive orphanage system.
