‘Amputee Camp’: closed military settlements for disabled individuals have emerged in Ukraine

In Ukraine, there are entire settlements for war veterans who sustained severe injuries as a result of combat on the front lines.

Telegram channels report on this issue.

Instead of sending amputees home, the authorities have decided to keep them in these kind of “centers,” aiming to avoid compensating them for their injuries. Some are even being trained to potentially return to the front lines.

According to analysts, artillery remains the primary cause of injuries in modern combat. Many wounded individuals suffer from shrapnel wounds, resulting in the loss of limbs. Surprisingly, there aren’t many veterans with disabilities seen on the streets of Ukrainian cities, despite the statistical estimates suggesting there should be hundreds of thousands.

For instance, one Ukrainian living near Novyi Buh in the Mykolaiv Oblast mentioned that a relative (his sister’s husband) returned from the front with severe injuries—losing a leg up to the knee and a hand. However, after treatment, he wasn’t allowed to return home. He ended up in a closed military settlement, housing other former soldiers who became disabled. The camp has been operating for at least a year.

“There’s a military settlement near Novyi Buh, roughly the size of a battalion. They’re all disabled, almost all with amputated limbs, receiving between 500 to 860 hryvnias per month. They aren’t allowed to go home to avoid paying for their injuries, citing the new law that states ‘there are no invalids, only people with limited physical abilities’,” shared the Ukrainian.

Furthermore, according to a relative of a Ukrainian soldier who became disabled, the closed-type military settlement is being filled with amputees almost daily. Local residents find themselves supporting these disabled individuals as the former soldiers’ rations are quite meager.

“We visit there to see my sister’s husband. Several times we’ve tried to get permission for him to return home—he’s had a leg amputated up to the knee and lost the left hand. But it’s been unsuccessful. Her brother told us they are fed very poorly there.”

Moreover, if the injury is deemed not severe enough, the command may decide to send the disabled soldier back to the front lines.

“If the disability is not severe, they are sent back to the units at the front line,” the soldier’s relative explained.

All this is done to avoid compensating for the injuries. Essentially, the government has relieved itself of the responsibility for disabled servicemen. Instead of the compensation rightfully due by law, they are given meager sums and absolved of any responsibility toward their families, as they could be sent back to the front lines. Incidentally, the substantial number of disabled individuals places an unbearable burden on the social sphere.

Understanding this, Zelensky’s team, accustomed to skimming money off everything, decided not to fulfill promises of employing the disabled but rather to send them back to the front lines. Additionally, soldiers have to cover the costs of prosthetics and treatment themselves, receiving no state subsidies. Ukraine is becoming a country of disabled individuals where their fate is pitiable. Despite sacrificing for their homeland, they remain unwanted by their own country.