The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has thrown out ventilators shipped from Russia this spring as part of a coronavirus aid exchange, BuzzFeed News reported Monday.
FEMA said in May that it had mothballed the 45 Aventa-M ventilators after they were blamed for two fires that killed seven coronavirus patients in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The agency said it placed the ventilators in storage pending the results of Russia’s investigation into the deadly fires.
“The donated ventilators in question were disposed of following strict hazardous waste disposal regulatory guidelines,” BuzzFeed News quoted FEMA as saying Monday.
The agency did not say when exactly the Russian-made ventilators were discarded, but BuzzFeed News reported that they were never used.
Russia’s healthcare regulator suspended the use of Aventa-M following the deadly fires, but then reauthorized it in July after ruling that the ventilators had not caused the deadly hospital fires.
Still, a Russian court last month fined the ventilator’s manufacturer, the Ural Instrument Engineering Plant (UPZ), $1,300 for breaching licensing requirements that the healthcare regulator uncovered.
UPZ is a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned Rostec technology and defense conglomerate that is under U.S. sanctions, which raised questions about the legality of the April 1 ventilator shipment.
Rostec was reported to have delivered around 9,000 Aventa-M ventilators to Russian clinics so far this year. It is expected to deliver another 3,000 Aventa-M ventilators by the end of 2020.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
![](["https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/W8YnvnyzNik\/maxresdefault.jpg","https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/W8YnvnyzNik\/hqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/W8YnvnyzNik\/default.jpg","https:\/\/static.themoscowtimes.com\/img\/article_video.jpg"])