Broken arms, broken promises: how Ukraine neglects seriously wounded soldiers

 "In the rain of mortar shells"

In April 2022, Oleksandr Chapovalov was wounded on the Izyum axis, in the Barvinskyi district. At that time, he and his comrades had just taken up their new positions a week earlier. The soldiers were digging trenches and arranging ditches when they came under mortar attack. They were unable to fight back. The unit was armed with only small arms, RPGs, and British NLAWs.

"The shells were tearing up the ground, and enemy drones were flying overhead, dropping explosive devices and grenades on us," Oleksandr says.

Before he could reach the shelter, four fragments of a 120mm mine hit his arm. He received first aid and was evacuated. When Oleksandr was being taken out of the combat zone, the enemy fire did not stop - the battery was also shelling the car.

"We barely got out," the soldier recalls.

Two medics saved the life of the soldier, who lost more than two liters of blood. One of the fragments went through him, creating a 5-centimeter diameter hole. The suture on the man's arm stretches for 35 centimeters.

Oleksandr has been undergoing treatment for a year. He was recognized as severely wounded by the military medical commission. The man has already undergone four surgeries, but his arm has not been restored.

"I have broken nerves and an artery that was sutured poorly. I can't pick up anything. The doctor says that the blood circulation and pressure in my arm are low. I can partially move three fingers, but the index and ring fingers do not work at all. In private clinics, they say that my arm cannot be saved. I had to undergo nerve restoration surgery immediately after the injury," says the soldier.

To survive on $26 a month

On the day he was wounded, the man was removed from the combat lists, so he did not receive any "combat" payments after that. He still has no compensation for his injury. The man appealed to his superiors and the financial department of the unit to receive payments, but they ignored him.

"I came and asked what I should do to get paid. They said they did not know," says Oleksandr.

In addition, doctors at the military medical commission and the medical and social expert commission refuse to recognize him as unfit for service, but in private clinics, doctors have a different opinion - they say that the man should be issued a disability.

"The last payment I received for my service was 953 hryvnias ($26). It is simply impossible to live on this money. We need to buy food and pay utility bills. My wife does not work and I have two children. The younger one is 4 years old and the older one is 19, she has a heart condition and we constantly need money for treatment. If I had the opportunity to leave the service, I might have been able to get at least some kind of job," Oleksandr says.

The man was taken out of service in the unit. At first, he received the status of "partially fit" at the military medical examination, and in March, after another examination by a neurologist, he was recognized as "unfit with a re-examination in six months". Therefore, he found himself in a situation where he could neither fight nor be demobilized.

"That is, the doctors at the military medical commission expect that my arm will miraculously recover in six months. The command also cannot explain what they plan to do with me. After all, I can't even be assigned to patrols, being "out of state"," the soldier explained.

The Public Relations Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine informed us that military personnel dismissed from their posts are paid the same salary as before for only two months, and after that from 530 ($14) to 2,640 ($71) hryvnias. The amount of the payment depends on the length of service.

The number of such servicemen is not specified, as the enemy may use the information.

The NGO Pryntsyp (“Principle”), which provides assistance to injured soldiers, says that the problem is quite widespread, but they cannot name the exact number of such soldiers because they do not keep statistics.

"The problem exists in all the brigades we interact with. Normal salaries for the military were formed with the help of additional payments of 30,000 ($809). They were removed, and problems arose, because now people with this status do not receive them," says Lyubov Halan, head of the NGO.

Regarding the case of Oleksandr, Halan says that for the period of treatment, the soldier, as a seriously wounded, should have received 100,000 hryvnias ($2,697) of compensation per month. Therefore, he recommends writing reports to his immediate superiors or, if ignored, to the higher command.

Awaiting the president's decision

At the end of March, the Parliament voted in favor of a law that allows for the demobilization of those soldiers who were found "unfit for service with a review in 6-12 months" into the reserve. However, it has not yet been signed by the president.

We sent a request to the President's Office asking why this law has not been signed yet and whether Volodymyr Zelenskyy was going to return it. However, we have not received a response in three weeks.

In total, the president has not signed more than 30 laws passed in parliament. So this case is far from isolated, says Viktoria Oliynyk, a lawyer with the Chesno civic movement.

"Regarding this law, without an official comment, it is difficult to determine the reason why the president has not signed it yet. It would give a large number of military personnel the right to be discharged. For a very long time, these people have been part of the army and performed certain roles. Now we need to find a replacement for them. But this is just an assumption," the lawyer says.

She adds that the head of state is violating the constitutional provision according to which the president must sign the law within 15 days or return it to the Verkhovna Rada. However, there is no responsibility for such a violation.

Oleksandr, 40, who went to war voluntarily because of his patriotism, says now: "I did not want young guys to die. But I did not think that I would have to face such problems outside the battlefield."