Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the Russian military has been shelling Ukrainian medical facilities, stealing medical equipment, and expelling patients from captured hospitals and setting up hospitals there for their wounded. Medics are dying from bullets of the occupiers.
At the end of last year, the World Health Organization said that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russians had carried out at least 700 attacks on the Ukrainian health care system. How many hospitals the occupiers managed to destroy and whether Ukraine manages to rebuild the medical infrastructure despite the war – further in the material of the Center for Public Monitoring and Control.
Medical equipment is stolen, and the sick are expelled
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, there have been reports online that the invaders are stealing medical equipment from hospitals. For example, in November of last year, the General Staff reported that the occupiers continue to steal and take away ambulances and equipment from hospitals from the settlement of Gola Prystan to the city of Skadovsk.
In addition, the Ministry of Health said that 433 ambulances were stolen during the 11 months of the war. Also, the Russians steal medical drugs with an evidence base from the occupied territories, exporting them to Russia. Instead, Ukrainian patients are brought their own products – untested.
The invaders don’t care how civilians will be treated, what they will be transported on and where. For example, in Vasylivka, Zaporizhzhia region, the occupiers converted a local children’s hospital into a military hospital for “their own”. Admission of children to the medical facility was stopped. In her Telegram channel, Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Malyar reported that in the temporarily occupied territories, pregnant women are deprived of the opportunity to receive the necessary medical care due to the fact that medical facilities are used to treat wounded Russian servicemen.
Operations without light
Due to the attacks of the occupiers on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine, and the resulting power outage, doctors have to treat patients in extreme conditions. For example, at the Heart Institute, the electricity went out just during an operation, doctors saved children’s lives with headlamps, and had to start a generator. And this is not an isolated case.
The hospital as a target for shelling
Ruined walls, broken windows, blood in the wards – the occupiers are rummaging through hospitals, maternity wards, dispensaries. Recently, the Russian military again shelled a hospital in Berislav in the Kherson region. The regional military administration reported that enemy shells had hit the boiler room. An employee of the facility was injured as a result of the Russian attack.
According to the Ministry of Health, during the 11 months of war in Ukraine, 1,035 medical infrastructure facilities were damaged and another 171 facilities were completely destroyed. They also add that during this time it was possible to completely restore 143 facilities of medical facilities, which were slightly damaged or destroyed as a result of shelling. More than 250 medical facilities have been partially restored.
Billions for recovery
To support the Ukrainian medical infrastructure, foreign partners send aid: generators, ambulances, expensive equipment, etc. In addition, a project office for the restoration of the health care system was created at the Ministry of Health.
In general, the Ministry of Health has estimated that the total needs for the restoration of the medical infrastructure are already estimated at $6.4 billion.
This is what modern medicine looks like in occupied Mariupol. Lack of doctors. Bombed hospitals. Therefore, until now, the only way to provide people with at least some medical assistance is such mobile hospitals on wheels.
The occupiers bring them to different districts of Mariupol.
For some time, this hospital from Tula operated on the Left Bank. Now works in the 17th microdistrict, near the market.
In order to get to the doctor, you need to have your passport with you. But first you still have to stand in line at the clinic.
They write out a cover letter there, and you go to the doctors with it. That is, you need to stand in line twice.
Cardiologist, neurologist, ultrasound, fluorography, mammography, electrocardiogram are accepted.
If you need to apply again, then you will be out of luck here, because the hospital is mobile, and it will go further. And the patient will have to look again for a place to undergo treatment.
According to juvenile prosecutors, 123 children were injured in the Kyiv region during the war.
This was reported by the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The most affected children were in Donetsk region – 445, Kharkiv region – 272, Kyiv region – 123, Kherson region – 89, Zaporizhia region – 84, Mykolaiv region – 83, Chernihiv region – 68, Luhansk region – 66, Dnipropetrovsk region – 64. In general, as of the morning of February 22, 2023, more than 1,387 children were injured in Ukraine as a result of the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation. According to the official information of juvenile prosecutors, 461 children died and more than 926 were injured of various degrees of severity.
These numbers are not final. Work on their installation in places of hostilities, in temporarily occupied and liberated territories, continues.
In our country, since the beginning of the full-scale war with the Russian Federation, 345 children are considered missing.
This was reported by the press service of the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine.
“According to the data of the children’s search portal “Children of War” as of February 22, 2023 (in Ukraine – ed.), 345 children are considered missing, 16,221 children were deported, and 9,909 children were found,” the message specifies.
The invasion of the Russian Federation into the territory of Ukraine had a negative impact on the work of the penitentiary system: 11 pre-trial detention centers and colonies were immediately occupied. It was impossible to evacuate detainees and prisoners from there (in the pre-trial detention center, people are kept who do not yet have a court verdict, they are in the status of detainees, in colonies – after the verdict), as well as workers, was impossible. About four thousand detainees and prisoners and 350 workers were subsequently transported from unoccupied but dangerous regions.
Russians released prisoners and convicts from some pre-trial detention centers and colonies, and about two thousand were forcibly deported to the occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk regions, Crimea or Russia. They were declared wanted and included in the list of deported civilian prisoners.
How did the war start for pre-trial detention centers and colonies, how much money did the government allocate for the construction of a camp for Russian prisoners of war, and why, even in wartime, the reform of the penitentiary system should be continued, says Olena Vysotska, deputy minister of justice in charge of this area.
“After the invasion of the Russian Federation, 11 penal institutions were immediately occupied”
Despite the terrible morning of February 24, I came to work. I had work meetings scheduled. An hour later, it became clear that no one was coming to the meeting. I was still indignant, I probably did not fully believe that a full-scale war had begun. Employees were waiting for instructions on what to do next, there were calls from the regions… Everything was somehow faster than usual.
There was a lot of talk about the possible offensive of Russian troops, but we did not expect that there would be such a wide front line. They were definitely not ready for this.
Immediately, 11 penal institutions were occupied, where about three thousand convicts and prisoners were.
For the first two or three days, they called the heads of these institutions. In some – there was no question of evacuation at that time – the Russians set up roadblocks, it was already dangerous to leave. Later, the communication with the managers was also cut off.
There were no clear protocols on how to act in such situations for the personnel of the criminal enforcement service. If the military has an order to retreat in case of need to save life, then we cannot order our personnel to leave places of deprivation of liberty and move to safe territory, because the safety of convicts and prisoners depends on us. The question arose: how to build the work of the staff in such conditions. And it is impossible to check who and how works in such a situation. Who remained loyal to Ukraine, and who began to cooperate with the occupiers. There are more than a hundred such cases, which are being investigated by the Security Service and the State Bureau of Investigation.
We decided to declare a state of emergency in those institutions that were in the occupied territories. This procedure is defined in the Labor Code. In fact, this is the suspension of the work of the institution with the preservation of a part of the salary of the employees.
Gradually, it was possible to organize the evacuation of more than four thousand convicts and prisoners from 11 institutions from the controlled but dangerous territory to safer territories. Workers could also move. A total of 350 employees were employed in vacant positions in other institutions of our system. This is not an unlimited possibility. Our staffing lists are clearly regulated. We cannot increase them. Therefore, part of the workers was listed as idle. Some remained to guard prisons from where prisoners and detainees were evacuated, as these are regime facilities.
The evacuation caused many problems. Additional places were needed to accommodate prisoners and detainees.
The pre-trial detention centers were overcrowded even before the full-scale invasion. We closed the colonies to optimize the system. However, it is impossible to use these premises right away – they are preserved, additional funds and time are required for deconservation. We had neither the first nor the second. Prisoners and convicts had to be placed in working institutions. Of course, neither the workers nor the prisoners and convicts liked this.
In addition, we could not ensure the removal of things, since it was only about the quick evacuation of people. Of course, they were indignant. We frankly told them about the situation, about the danger of shelling. Eventually, I think, they realized it – some of the institutions were damaged or destroyed as a result of hostilities. Colonies in Toretsk and Orichov, for example, were completely destroyed. After the de-occupation of Kherson, the Russians, who retreated to the left bank, are constantly shelling the pre-trial detention center located on the right.
The chances of saving the convicts’ lives when there are battles or rocket attacks are very small. Most penitentiaries do not have basements that can be used as storage facilities. These were additional arguments to calm the indignation.
Later, thanks to international partners, it was possible to take some belongings of prisoners and property of institutions from regions where it was more or less safe.
“After the deoccupation, torture chambers were discovered in the penal institutions”
In different regions, Russians behaved differently towards prisoners or detainees. Some were released from pre-trial detention centers or colonies, some were taken to the occupied Luhansk or Donetsk regions or to Russia.
In Kherson, currently the only de-occupied city where prisons are located, the Russians opened the doors of the pre-trial detention center before retreating. Of course, many convicts escaped, but many later returned, even life sentences. It is difficult to name the number of those who escaped, because the Russians illegally took some of the convicts to Crimea and the Russian Federation. It is clear that if there are no relatives in Kherson, and there are roadblocks, then it is difficult for convicts to hide. But I believe that they returned because they see a future with Ukraine and do not want to worsen their legal situation. And from the colonies, the Russians in advance – before the retreat to the left bank – expelled all the convicts to the right bank or to the temporarily occupied “L/DРR” or took them to Russia. We reported this to the law enforcement authorities, they declared them wanted and included them in the list of civilian prisoners who were forcibly deported. This is about two thousand people. Information is gradually appearing about those who managed to escape to another country or return to Ukraine.
After de-occupation, torture chamber-like rooms were discovered in the penal institutions. The prisoners say that they were not tortured. But civilians who protested against the occupation authorities could be brought there. While the investigation is ongoing.
“Now Ukraine has something to show even to the world regarding the detention of prisoners of war”
We took on the function of keeping prisoners of war and, accordingly, providing them with proper conditions. In this way, they decided to help the military – so that they could focus only on the defense of the state. This is a new experience for us, but now Ukraine has something to show the world regarding the rapid organization of holding prisoners of war during a full-scale invasion.
I cannot talk about the prisoners of war in detail, including their number. This can negatively affect the negotiation process.
I can only tell you how our work on arranging places for their maintenance began. It was difficult, I admit. We had no such practice. The Geneva Convention contains quite general norms, and Ukrainian legislation was not ready for this.
The Pre-trial detention center was not ready at the beginning of the invasion, but even then there were few prisoners. First, we took them to the precincts that were set up at every pre-trial detention center in big cities, and only then to the camp.
Last year, the Cabinet of Ministers allocated 44 million hryvnias from the reserve fund for setting up the camp and keeping prisoners of war — repairs were made, equipment was purchased.
We are often criticized: why provide Russian prisoners with good conditions, why light, heat… But this is our international reputation and a guarantee of providing aid to our country. Respect for human rights is an important indicator for every civilized country. Next is the observance of human rights in places of deprivation of liberty, and even more so the observance of human rights in relation to the military of the enemy’s army. We are not giving the Russians a chance now or later in a legal war to use this issue against us.
I understand the relatives of the Ukrainian prisoners who are in Russia, considering how they return home, I understand the indignation of our military. But it is important for us to remain a civilized country. That is why the function of keeping prisoners of war is entrusted to the Ministry of Justice, and not to the Ministry of Defense.
“Among the pardoned convicts for participating in the defense of the country are both the dead and Heroes of Ukraine”
At the beginning of the invasion, we were flooded with petitions from convicts and prisoners asking for pardon (or release from pre-trial detention center) and the intention to participate in the defense of the country. Those who have not committed a serious or particularly serious crime have this right. We submitted the following statements to the Presidential Pardons Commission. And she, in turn, offered the president to pardon 363 convicts who had short sentences and non-violent articles, as well as military experience.
Yes, this is a high-profile fact of the pardon, since at one time there were not so many pardoned in our country. But such a decision was connected with the desire to strengthen the army. Subsequently, inquiries were sent to the military regarding the future fate of those pardoned. I can only say that among them there are both those who died and those who were awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.
Currently, we are not planning such a repeat pardon procedure. They are more focused on implementing a reform — so that not every crime ends up in prison.
“Not everyone who commits a crime should be in prison”
Back in December 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the Ministry of Justice’s strategy for reforming the penitentiary system until 2026. Subsequently, we submitted several bills to the parliament for the implementation of the reform. Among other things, we suggest using probation. Probation is work with offenders without isolating them from society, monitoring them and at the same time providing them with psychological and social support. is assigned as a replacement for the unserved part of the sentence.
In addition, we offer various options for payment of the deposit, including in installments and under the pledge of property. Such changes can significantly relieve the burden on institutions for the execution of punishments.
The goal of the reform is to reduce the prison population in Ukraine. Not everyone who commits a crime should go to prison.
The Parliament has not yet adopted these changes. The war stops the reform, sets other priorities. But if you keep it in focus, you can continue even in extremely difficult conditions. This is important both for the convicts themselves and for society. Moreover, reforming the penitentiary system is one of the requirements for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
Most of the EU’s demands relate to infrastructure improvements — the construction of new pretrial detention facilities, the reconstruction of prisons. This requires significant funds. Today, we can only make small repairs, update some of the equipment.
Last fall, we seriously prepared for blackouts, because correctional facilities are very sensitive to the lack of power supply. And the security system, and refrigerating chambers, where significant stocks of products are stored, and electric stoves for cooking without light will not work. Therefore, we thought about how to deal with this problem without additional funding.
They asked for help from partners, used funds from the funds. Some countries have been helping us since the first days, like Poland. They also brought equipment to the colony, and food, and even cars.
We had generators of Soviet models. We have repaired them so that we can use them if necessary. In some situations, logistics were changed – for example, bread was baked in colonies where there was light, and transported to those where it was not. The Red Cross brought warm blankets, pillows… In fact, any help is important to us.
When the civilian population suffers from war, there are not many sponsors to finance the prison system. I am very understanding if I receive a negative response to my request from one or another organization. The main thing is that they help Ukraine, but who exactly is not so important.
“Capital expenditures are financed by 1%”
Reducing the prison population will not literally save money. But the allocated funds will be spent qualitatively: on modern equipment for searching for prohibited items, on raising the salaries of employees to remove corruption and motivate them, etc.
In the budget for this year, the penitentiary system is financed by 80% – for salaries of employees, utility costs, food, medicines. That is, around the summer, it will be necessary to talk to representatives of the Ministry of Finance in order to receive additional funding.
If we are talking about capital expenditures – for equipment, repair works, then they are not financed at all. Less than 1%. You can keep the system in the state it is in. But to reform is not.
In 2020, we prepared a project to privatize the premises of the prison system, which we do not use. 70% of the funds from their sale must remain in the system. But this process was stopped because of the war. It is necessary that the investment climate stabilizes, and we can receive more offers from potential investors.
It is clear what the current budgetary priorities of the state are in wartime. And I in no way blame anyone for the fact that there are no significant expenditures on the penitentiary system. But at the same time, the reform should not be stopped completely.
In the process of restoring the country, we want to initiate the construction of modern institutions for serving sentences and attract the help of EU member states. But for this, at least the legislation needs to be changed, in accordance with international standards.