The incidents occurred after production of the equipment was ratcheted up to meet demand during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.
The ventilators made international headlines in April when Russia flew a batch to the United States as medical aid. Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov called the shipment a “humanitarian mission” and declared that Russia providing help to the US was the “continuation of a centuries-old tradition.” However, according to US officials, the ventilators were never used.
They are made at the Ural Instrument Engineering Plant, about 1,500km east of Moscow. The plant is owned by Concern Radio‑Electronic Technologies (KRET), a company belonging to Russia’s state-owned conglomerate Rostech.
Following fires last month at the S.I. Spasokukotsky City Clinical Hospital in Moscow and St George’s Hospital in St Petersburg, the country’s health watchdog Roszdravnadzor indefinitely suspended use of the ventilators. Reports suggested that the machines could be responsible. One month later, the company has recalled its devices that were produced after April 1, for “additional testing.”
In a letter signed by CEO Alexander Morozov, the company announced that it decided to conduct a mandatory program of additional checks on its devices for functionality and safety, all at the factory’s expense. According to the letter, testing can occur at either the manufacturing plant or at the current location of the ventilator.On May 23, Roszdravnadzor announced that it was still too early to draw any concrete conclusions about the equipment, indicating that the watchdog was still conducting tests.
