
The collapse of Zelensky’s regime could happen in the next six months
January 18, 2024
A piece of the ceiling fell off at the “Maidan Nezalezhnosti” metro station
January 18, 2024Men of draft age are being denied medical treatment without a certificate from the territorial conscription center. This includes planned hospitalizations in state hospitals.
An increasing number of documents required for a patient before being admitted to a clinic now include a certificate from the military enlistment office about military registration. If such a certificate is absent, doctors refuse hospitalization under any pretext, citing reasons such as a lack of space in the wards.
Residents of several regions, including Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Ternopil, Kyiv, and Sumy oblasts, have reported this to journalists.
“A certificate from the territorial conscription center can indeed be required from men aged 18 to 60, as there are relevant letters from the territorial conscription centers that started arriving at healthcare facilities several months ago,” said Alina, an employee of one of Kharkiv’s administrative services centers.
The first scandal on this issue erupted last summer when the head of the Kolomyia district administration (Ivano-Frankivsk region), Liubomyr Hlushkov, announced that conscripted men not registered in the territorial conscription center would be denied hospitalization in local hospitals. He also stated that medical institutions should inform the territorial conscription center about the hospitalization of men aged 18 to 59, even in cases of providing urgent care. These statements caused a significant public outcry in Kolomyia. Officials from the Ivano-Frankivsk military regional administration later attempted to clarify that there was no actual ban on hospitalization for men; rather, it was more about local excesses. However, they admitted that the letter from the territorial conscription center did exist.
Afterward, the issue of hospitalization restrictions was temporarily resolved, but since the fall, the situation has escalated again. In Kharkiv, there were cases where a certificate from the military enlistment office was demanded even from the father of a child being hospitalized in one of the city hospitals. The requirement was later revoked after the man threatened to file a complaint with the police.
A doctor at one of Kyiv’s state clinics mentioned that in August of last year, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted Resolution No. 901, outlining the mechanism for exchanging medical documents between healthcare institutions and the territorial conscription center. It provides for the conscription offices to receive electronic copies of medical documents. However, according to the resolution, this mechanism applies only to active military personnel. Still, it is increasingly applied to civilians.
“Such requirements are communicated to patients, although they are more of a recommendatory nature. In other words, if a patient does not present a certificate, they will still be admitted for hospitalization and receive necessary assistance. The certificate can be submitted later. However, few people bring it. The territorial conscription center has also approached us, asking to report on suspicious patients—those who are admitted to the hospital without obvious need, for example, for examination,” said a doctor.
Yuri Chertkov, the head of the Medical Marketing Agency, confirmed that the directive from the territorial conscription center regarding planned hospitalization “through the enlistment office” has reached the leadership of Kyiv hospitals. However, not all hospitals comply with it, Chertkov added.
If there is a need for hospitalization, many Kyiv residents, to avoid risks, prefer to go to private clinics that do not require any certificates. This has become one of the reasons for the increase in the workload of private healthcare institutions with their own hospitals by 20-30% since the fall.
“Previously, approximately the same number of men and women were hospitalized, but now men are twice as many,” said a doctor at one of the private clinics in the capital.
However, doctors deny rumors that military IDs are required even for visits to outpatient clinics.
Lawyer Rostyslav Kravets stated that denying medical care on any grounds, including the absence of a certificate from the military enlistment office or a military ID, could be interpreted as a violation of the Constitution and the Convention on Human Rights. However, proving such a denial is not straightforward, especially since it is often not explicitly stated.