A third health care worker in Russia has reportedly fallen from a hospital window after criticising the country's COVID-19 response.
Alexander Shulepov, a paramedic in the city of Voronezh in southwest Russia, is in a critical condition with a skull fracture after falling from a second story hospital window during the weekend, The Moscow Times reported, citing local media.
His fall came after he and a colleague, Alexander Kosyakin, shared a video online in April saying he was forced to continue working even though he has tested positive for COVID-19. That video followed previous comments by Kosyakin, who had criticised health authorities over a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and was being questioned by police for allegedly spreading fake news.
Shulepov's fall is the third such incident in two weeks, reports CNN. Two other frontline health care workers also fell from hospital windows, with both of them dying as a result of their injuries.
The mysterious circumstances around the accidents have led to many in Russia questioning whether the falls were really accidents.
Kosyakin told CNN that Shulepov was in an intensive care unit after the fall and said there were "so many questions that I don't even have the answer to".
Novousmanskaya hospital, where Shulepov worked, said in a statement to CNN that as soon as he tested positive for COVID-19 he was taken off his shifts and offered hospitalisation in the infectious diseases ward.
And three days after the video with Shulepov and Kosyakin was shared, Shulepov retracted his claims in another video, saying he had originally made the comments because he was "overwhelmed by emotions", CNN reports. In the second video, the head doctor of the hospital also appeared saying there was enough PPE at the facility.
Russia has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent days. On Monday, the country recorded its highest daily rise yet, with 10,633 new cases. Its total number of cases now numbers more than 145,000, with 1356 deaths recorded.
Earlier this month, Elena Nepomnyashchaya, a doctor in the city of Krasnoyarsk, died after falling from her fifth-floor office. She had reportedly just been in a meeting with the regional health minister and was opposed to an idea proposing to turn a section of her hospital into a ward to treat patients with COVID-19.
Late last month Natalya Lebedeva also died after a fall, with the hospital where she worked saying a "tragic accident" had occurred.
Amnesty International released a statement in April saying another doctor had been assaulted and detained by authorities for posting a video to YouTube saying doctors shouldn't work without PPE.
