At the newly opened Federal Research and Clinical Centre for Children's Hematology, Oncology and Immunology, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was shown the surgery block, the intensive care unit, and the wards where parents may stay with their children after operations performed.

The centre has four surgery blocks for operations of all types. Each of the operating rooms is fitted out with audio and video conferencing equipment that allows specialists to talk to surgeons and control the way an operation is being performed. The system also enables specialists to get online advice from foreign colleagues during surgery.

The operating rooms' optical systems, which reflect every detail of a given operation, were then demonstrated to the prime minister.

After touring the centre, Vladimir Putin talked to young patients and their parents. The mother of a sick girl asked the prime minister to look into the problem of transport fares to the clinical centre. She claimed that only named trains run from her home in Pskov to Moscow, while tickets at a reduced fare can be bought only for regular trains. "We shall solve this problem in the near future," the prime minister answered. He promised that the government would pay for fares on named trains, where such trains are the only means of transport available.

A six-year-old patient named Sonya gave the prime minister a cup and saucer she had painted herself.