Russian doctor gets nine years jail for deadly patient punch

A Russian surgeon was yesterday sentenced to nine years in jail for manslaughter after he punched a patient, causing him to die in a brutal attack that captured national attention.

Doctor Ilya Zelendinov from the Russian city of Belgorod, 580km south of Moscow, was caught on security camera punching a male patient in the face, causing him to fall backwards and die from a head injury.

The shocking video footage of the attack on December 29 went viral online and was aired on national television.

Yevgeniya Solodovnikova, a spokeswoman for the Belgorod court, said that Zelendinov was handed a jail term of nine years and two months and had his medical licence suspended.

Investigators said Zelendinov had hit the patient because he had kicked a nurse during a procedure.