Three Russian doctors who clashed with officials about the pandemic have fallen from hospital windows in mysterious circumstances.
Two of them died, while the third remains in a critical condition. They were among hundreds of medics who complained about a litany of failings and a dire lack of personal protective equipment.
It comes amid fears President Vladimir Putin’s regime is trying to suppress criticism of the response with threats of arrest.
Dr Alexander Shulepov, 37, plunged from a second-floor hospital window last Friday – breaking eight ribs and fracturing his skull – after speaking out about being forced to work while suffering from Covid-19. Ten days earlier, he had posted a video complaining about a lack of kit.
After being admitted to the infectious diseases ward of a hospital in the city of Voronezh, the father-of-three later appeared in a film to retract his comments.
Authorities said his fall was an accident but Alexander Kosyakin, who appeared in the critical video alongside Mr Shulepov, said the incident rang alarm bells.
He told CNN: ‘All of a sudden this happened, it’s not clear why and what for,’
Mr Kosyakin added police have warned him he could be charged with spreading ‘fake news’.
A week earlier, Dr Natalya Lebedeva, 48, fell 60ft to her death from the sixth floor of a hospital in Moscow while being treated for suspected coronavirus.
Colleagues said Dr Lebedeva – head of emergency medicine – was distressed after being accused over a spread of the disease at her hospital. Officials said her death was a ‘tragic accident’.
Just 24 hours later, Yelena Nepomnyashchaya, 47, the acting head of a hospital in western Siberia, also fell from the window of her fifth-floor office.
She had clashed with regional health officials who asked her to convert a ward to treat virus patients, saying there was a lack of PPE and training for her staff.
Dr Nepomnyashchaya died on Saturday after a week in a coma.
Medics have criticised Mr Putin after promised pay increases for those working during the crisis failed to materialise.
Others have resigned over a lack of PPE – which is denied by Mr Putin’s government.
The West has accused Russia of underplaying the extent of the outbreak in the country, with only 1,600 deaths from the 177,000 registered cases. Infections have shot up by at least 10 000 a day this week and yesterday.