Russia:Children in a Siberian orphanage were beaten until they handed over pocket money, according to the latest brutal story about mistreatment in Russian institutions.
It follows the arrest of a nurse last week on charges of sadism, after she taped over the mouths of babies so they couldn't cry.
Starved of funds since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian government has started to reinvest in the health system, announcing large salary increases for medical staff, who often receive just a few hundred euro per month in pay.
But brutal stories continue to emerge about mistreatment in hospitals and institutions across the vast country, which has more than 700,000 orphans in a total population of 142 million.
While economic prosperity is raising standards of living and the quality of health services in cities like Moscow and St Petersburg, more remote regions are being left behind.
In Krasanoyarsk, Siberia, the deputy manager and a male nurse of an orphanage for disabled children have been arrested for causing bodily harm to the children in their care. They are believed to have beaten the children, who were found with bruises and deep cuts, to force them to hand over pocket money.
Although three quarters of government financing goes directly to the institution, a quarter is given directly to the children as spending money.
One of the suspects claimed that he intended to use the money to buy furniture for the orphanage.
In a separate incident, a nurse in the Ural city of Yekaterinburg has been arrested for the mistreatment of abandoned new born babies. A woman visiting a neighbouring ward used her mobile phone to record images of the babies, after she heard muffled cries. She discovered the babies had tape across their mouths, to stop them crying.
When challenged the nurse denied any wrongdoing, insisting the tape was only there to prevent soothers from falling out of the babies' mouths.
The publication of the images taken by the visiting woman, Yelena Kuritsyna, have triggered outrage in Russia, with widespread media coverage."I heard that a baby was mumbling in a neighbouring room. When I looked in, I saw the baby with plaster over his mouth, he could not cry or do anything, he was just mumbling. I went to see a nurse and asked her, in a quite rude way, how she could have done such a thing," she said.
"She said that it was not my business, but I said that it was my business, and asked her to take the plasters off, but she refused. But seeing my determination she took the bandages off."
One doctor defended staff, saying they were underpaid and overworked, and taping the soothers in place was the best way to save time. Doctors earn as little as €200 euro a month while nurses' salaries start at €100.