Background. Suicides are predicted to drop in the acute phase of any crisis that poses a threat to the entire population, though data on this are inconsistent. A pandemic is the most severe global crisis one can imagine. There is an urgent need to identify objective trends in suicide rates across countries and populations in a real-time manner in order to be better informed regarding prospects and adaptation of preventive strategies. Objectives. To evaluate suicidal behaviour in a metropolis immediately after the introduction of severe containment measures due to the pandemic. Methods. Cases of completed suicides in St. Petersburg were obtained from the local city Bureau of Forensic Medical Examinations for the period 1 January 2016 to 31 July 2020. Data were accurately collected and monthly frequencies per 100,000 of the population in April-May 2020 (introduction of the most severe stay at home measures) were compared with corresponding data from 2016-2019. Confidence intervals were calculated according to Wilson. Results. Suicide frequencies in the population of St. Petersburg in April 2020 did not go up, in contrast, they were 30.3% lower than the average for the previous four years. The decrease in April was more pronounced in males than in females (36.3% and12.4%, respectively). When looking at age groups it was found that the biggest drop in suicides was in older males ( 55 years). In this group, suicide indices were 58.5% lower than average for the previous four years. However, in females, there was a 50% rise in suicides in June, while in young males (15-34 years) there was an 87.9% rise in May. Total number of suicides for the first half of 2020 was very close to the average seen in previous years. None of the registered changes were statistically significant. Conclusions. The analysis is preliminary and does not account for possible seasonality, however, we consider that the reduction in completed suicides immediately after crisis exposure deserves attention. It supports views that in the acute phase of the crisis, suicidal behaviour may decline, which may be quickly replaced by a rise. Such a rise in females and younger males points on possible risk groups and requires a response from society. More studies are needed to have a clearer picture of suicide dynamics in Russia during the different waves of the pandemic, and prevention should be prioritized regardless of the tendencies.

There are observations that right after total quarantine measures were introduced, there was no growth in number of suicides, but a situation remains unclear when it comes down to new waves in the pandemic development. Our research goal was to estimate risks of suicide in heterogeneous population groups in 2020, that is, from the pandemic start and up to the second wave rise. We analyzed data on completed suicides in Saint Petersburg, Udmurtia Republic (Russia), and Odessa region (Ukraine), 6,375 cases overall among population groups with total number of people being equal to 9,216 thousand starting from January 01, 2016 to December 31, 2020. Confidence intervals for frequencies as per months (per 100,000 people) in 2020 were calculated as per Wilson and compared with average ones calculated for 2016–2019. There was a decrease in frequency of completed suicides in all three population groups during a period when the strictest quarantine measures were valid; by the mid-summer the trend normalized or there was even a slight increase. When the second pandemic wave came, changes were multidirectional; in particular, in Saint Petersburg there was another decrease by the end of the year, the most apparent and statistically significant among men whereas there were short-term rises in Udmurtia and Odessa. Our comparison performed for population groups with initially different levels of suicides confirms that right after a crisis starts, suicidal behavior becomes less frequent among people; however, as a response to the second pandemic wave, we can expect both falls and rises in number of suicides and it requires more intense preventive activities.

No abstract

Приведен случай самоубийства путем нанесения гр-м К. самому себе в положении стоя во время тренировки в стрелковом тире ДОСААФ России трех огнестрельных ранений из 9,0 мм пистолета «Викинг». Случай представляет значительный интерес для судебной медицины, так как наглядно иллюстрирует, что в практике судебно-медицинской экспертизы встречаются самоубийства, в ходе которых пострадавший наносит себе повреждения, которые на первый взгляд выглядят как невозможные для самостоятельного причинения. Ключевые слова: судебно-медицинская экспертиза, огнестрельные повреждения, самоубийство, диагностика.

Литература по проблемам судебно-медицинской экспертизы огнестрельных повреждений обширна. Только за послевоенный период опубликовано более 1000 статей и защищено более 60 диссертаций. Накоплен большой объем практических и экспериментальных данных о составе, распространении и особенностях воздействия на преграду отдельных факторов выстрела из различных видов огнестрельного оружия, использующего «стандартные» поражающие элементы, в том числе эластичные пули травматических патронов [1, 2]. Сообщения о механизме образования повреждений «нестандартными» снарядами, выстреленными из огнестрельного оружия ограниченного поражения, единичны. Они освещают только отдельные вопросы. Нет публикаций о широко распространенном в настоящее время гражданском короткоствольном огнестрельном оружии ограниченного поражения [3, 4], владелец которого на практике может использовать не резиновые пули, а твердые поражающие элементы, в том числе дробь. Следовательно, обозначился разрыв