72% of wounded Ukrainian soldiers fear that the state will forget about them after they return from the front.
This is stated in a survey conducted by Gradus Research.
“Who knows how many Ukrainian soldiers die in the first hours after being wounded? And how many do we lose in the first days, weeks, months? Now this information is closed, but someday this “summary statistics” will be available and it will be too late to change anything. We need to change it now! Supporting the wounded is an urgent matter for every conscious citizen of Ukraine,” said Sergiy Soshynsky, initiator of the roundtable “Cargo 300 – Who needs defenders after being wounded?”, president of the ICF “Health of the Ukrainian People”.
Unfortunately, most of the wounded military in Ukraine do not see the desired support and respect from the state for which they shed their blood.
This was reported by the military during the event.
The system of treatment of the wounded in Ukraine: a reality that is not usually talked about
“We need to improve the situation with the wounded. Today we have organizational problems. Society must understand that veteran soldiers and those who have been wounded are a valuable resource for the state,” says Ivan Lukavyi, a fighter with the Third Separate Assault Brigade.
Ivan received a gunshot wound to his leg near Bakhmut. There was close contact with the enemy.
The strongest bone in his body was shattered. They wanted to amputate his leg. The operation to save the limb required large sums of money, which the state does not cover. Philanthropists stepped in to help. After numerous operations, the leg was saved.
Mass amputations
The state has a strong funding for prosthetics – more than UAH 2.5 million per person (this includes payments for the loss of a limb and subsequent disability payments – ed.), while the NHS currently provides only UAH 8635 to save a limb from amputation.
The injured are forced to look for money on their own or consciously go for amputation.
The military also emphasize the lack of an effective rehabilitation system in Ukraine.
“During the entire treatment, rehabilitation was the most outrageous thing. You don’t know where to go. There is no published list of rehabilitation centers in Ukraine. And it is difficult to choose a really effective one. I chose the center closest to the area where I live. Even though there was a discount for the military, I still paid a lot of money. The state issued a sheet with a list of ten medicines needed for a month. The pharmacies said that only half of the items were available, but we paid money for them as well,” says soldier Dmytro Sukhodolsky.
Dmytro performed combat missions as a platoon commander in the Kharkiv sector. But in May 2022, his life changed dramatically. The enemy killed Dmytro with bullets.
More than 20 surgeries, 18 injuries from bullets and shrapnel, 32 scars on his skin, 4 bullets stuck in his body, more than 500 days of treatment, Dmytro Sukhodolsky, a war veteran, has undergone.
A guide for the wounded
Maria Bakuma, an assistant human rights attorney in the United States, also emphasized the importance of supporting the wounded and his family.
“At the moment, there is no state assistance for the care of the wounded, nor is there any legal protection against dismissal from work because of this. It is crucial to create a “wounded person’s guide”, a hotline and a website that will contain complete, step-by-step information and recommendations on what to do with the wounded from the moment of injury to full rehabilitation. It is also important to create unions to support the families of the wounded in order to take better care of them,” says the lawyer.
Viktor Serdyuk, President of the Council for Patients’ Safety, believes that it is necessary to create a unified medical space, “My son is a military sniper, he was injured by a mine. I know from my own experience what the wounded go through. We have everything to create a unified medical space in Ukraine. But there is nothing that can synchronize these mechanisms. We need to create a professional personal medical assistance service. The patient should be the subject whom the state should ‘serve’.”
Military in search of public support
The roundtable initiated the creation of a “Resolution on the Wounded in Ukraine”, a document that outlines the problems of the wounded, contains clear proposals for their solution, and reveals the will of injured soldiers, war veterans and civilians who were injured during the war.
The resolution provides for the establishment of the Commissioner for the Wounded (Ombudsman) in Ukraine, who will take care of injured servicemen in Ukraine; the formation of the National Committee for the Care of the Wounded, the creation of a single medical space for the care of the wounded, raising the status of the wounded in Ukraine and popularizing their exploits through national media and other media channels, launching the “Day of Thanksgiving for the Wounded,” and more.
Philanthropists and the military called on public associations, volunteer organizations, foundations, medical, humanitarian, and legal organizations dealing with the problems of the wounded to join the creation of the Resolution on the Wounded in Ukraine and offer their proposals on
Improving medical care for the wounded;
Ensuring effective rehabilitation for the wounded;
Protecting the rights and dignity of the wounded;
Attracting resources and financial support to implement the recommendations of the Resolution. Proposals can be sent to: info@houp.org.
In about a month, after public discussions, the resolution will be finalized, signed and sent to the authorities.
For reference: a resolution, as a tool, allows to combine various proposals and recommendations in a single document that obliges the authorities and civil society organizations to take into account and solve these problems. It is the resolution that creates the basis for systemic change and can have a major impact on policy, funding and assistance to the wounded in Ukraine.
The purpose of the resolution is to build cooperation between the government and the public in helping the wounded.
The document will highlight guidelines and help make clear decisions to support the wounded at all levels, from hospital to community.
