A Russian Vogue model who plunged from a third-floor window and suffered multiple injuries on a Moscow pavement has told detectives there was nothing suspicious in her fall.
Ksenia Puntus, 21, was initially unable to explain to police how she had plummeted off the ledge ‘almost naked’ in the early hours.
But now she has insisted she fell accidentally from a window, while also hitting out at another top Russian model Alesya Kafelnikova, 21, who suggested there had been foul play and a cover-up.
Model Ksenia Puntus, 21, plunged from a third floor window in Moscow and suffered multiple injuries as she smacked the pavement. But she claims her falling was an accident
Puntus pictured in her hospital bed with boyfriend Andrei Bakov and a friend where she was treated for head and chest injuries as well as broken ribs, legs and pelvis. She wears a titanium external fixation device to aid recovery of her pelvic fractures
Another 21-year-old Russian model, Alesya Kafelnikova, suggested there had been foul play in the fall which was being covered up
Puntus was found by a street cleaner at 4am dressed in light clothes, ‘groaning’ and writhing in agony in temperatures of minus 2C.
The cleaner said: ‘It was about 4am, I heard her sobbing and… saw the girl. She was sitting, crying…her leg was twisted unnaturally.’
The model suffered head and chest injuries as well as broken ribs, legs and pelvis shortly before she was due to leave for Paris on an assignment.
In the hospital picture she is seen with a titanium external fixation device to aid recovery of her pelvic fractures.
She had fallen while sitting by an open window browsing her iPad as her boyfriend Andrei Bakov, 20, slept after a night out during which she drank wine, she said.
Puntus said: ‘The whole incident is an absurd accident that will serve as a huge lesson for the rest of my life.
She denied she had been attacked or hidden in bushes under the window, as Kafelnikova had alleged, and also dismissed reports that she suffered memory loss over the incident.
Scene of fall: Puntus plummeted from the third floor of an apartment block in Moscow (left) before clattering on to the pavement (right) where she was found writhing in agony
Puntus had fallen while sitting by an open window browsing her iPad as her boyfriend Andrei Bakov, 20, (pictured together before the fall) slept after a night out during which she drank wine
When Puntus (pictured) was first taken to hospital she was initially unable to explain to police how she had fallen
Puntus hit out at ‘all that Alesya managed to invent in her posts’, insisting: ‘There can be no question of any unlawful actions against me.’
She insisted her boyfriend – who was quizzed by the Russian Investigative Committee after the fall – is ‘the most wonderful person’ who was asleep at the time, also denying anyone had been tailing her on the night she was injured.
The grandson of famous Russian film director Nikita Milhalkov, he is pictured with her in hospital.
The model’s family also initially expressed doubts her fall was accidental.
But her friends have also angrily rejected reports that she may have been on drugs or drunk as malicious nonsense.
One said: ‘She did not smoke, or drink or anything like this. She ate healthy food and was seriously into sports.’
Putnus also strongly denied online rumours of illegal substances saying she has ‘an extremely negative attitude to drugs’ and is a keen sportswoman.
She said her hospital tests confirmed ‘there were no illegal substances and obscure pills involved in this story’.
Earlier, Puntus’ agent Lliya Chepigina (right, with the model in hospital), of Avant-Models agency, had said: ‘She is conscious but she can hardly tell anything….. because of her head injuries’
Puntus has posed for Vogue and Tatler and before her injuries was due to leave for Paris on an assignment
Puntus is said to be conscious after she was found by a street cleaner in the city at 4am
Kafelnikova – daughter of Russian tennis star Yevgeny Kafelnikov – posted that Ksenia ‘was found undressed in the bushes not far from the block of flats where she allegedly fell….’
She had alleged: ‘She was at a party with a bunch of people I know. Most likely their parents will do all in their power to hide the truth…. Her legs and ribs are broken…She was clearly hidden. It was a cleaner who found her and called the ambulance.’
Earlier, Puntus’ agent Lliya Chepigina, of Avant-Models agency, had said: ‘She is conscious but she can hardly tell anything….. because of her head injuries.’
The model has posed for Vogue and Tatler.
Preliminary investigations into the incident are continuing.
Puntus insisted her boyfriend Bakov, – who was quizzed by the Russian Investigative Committee after the fall – is ‘the most wonderful person’
Bakov, also a model, is the grandson of famous Russian film director Nikita Milhalkov (pictured together)