In Russia, hospitals are being converted en masse into military field hospitals
In Russia, an increasing number of civilian hospitals, clinics, and even maternity wards are being repurposed to treat wounded soldiers, and this is already having a noticeable impact on access to medical care for ordinary patients. Due to massive losses in the war against Ukraine, the healthcare system has effectively begun to serve the needs of the military, leaving civilian healthcare on the brink of collapse. This is detailed in an investigation by independent journalist Matvey Leibin for the publication “Novaya Gazeta. Europe.”
In various regions of the Russian Federation, hospitals are gradually changing their focus and admitting more and more wounded soldiers from the front lines.
One example is Omsk, where the former Maternity Hospital No. 5 has been completely converted into a hospital for combatants. According to the investigation, hundreds of millions of rubles were spent on the facility’s renovation and equipping, and the city has effectively begun to be transformed into a center for military medicine.
Local activists claim that the strain on the system is growing daily and that more and more wounded are arriving in the region. One of the interviewees noted that Omsk has become a hub where soldiers are being brought in en masse from the front lines.
Due to a shortage of beds, soldiers are increasingly being placed not only in specialized military hospitals but also in regular civilian hospitals, where medical staff are forced to work under conditions of constant shortages of resources and personnel.
A former nurse at one of the medical institutes in St. Petersburg said that they are trying not to bring the scale of the problem into the public eye, although it is palpable in the daily work of hospitals. According to her, the situation is already affecting care for civilian patients. “There are so many wounded soldiers that military hospitals can’t accommodate them all,” she said, explaining the system’s overload.
She also stated that due to the needs of the front lines, hospitals have begun to experience shortages of medications and supplies that were previously allocated to civilian healthcare. “They’ve used up almost all the antibiotics and supplies,” the nurse added.
Separately, interviewees also describe the difficult working conditions for medical staff, as the behavior of some wounded soldiers creates additional challenges for hospitals and personnel.
Against this backdrop, civilian patients are increasingly being denied hospitalization due to a lack of beds. The investigation cites a case where a patient’s relatives were explicitly told that the refusal was due to priority being given to military personnel. “There are no beds! The military… You understand,” the hospital staff replied.
According to official data from the Russian Ministry of Health, the country is already short tens of thousands of doctors and mid-level medical staff, which further exacerbates the crisis in a system that is simultaneously supporting the war effort.
As a reminder, the Russian African Corps is retreating from cities in Mali following a jihadist offensive.
Units of the so-called African Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defense have left the strategically important city of Kidal in Mali. The withdrawal took place against the backdrop of an unprecedented attack by Tuareg rebels and Islamists on several regions of the country simultaneously.
