Ukrainian military ombudswoman shares insight from her first days of work
www.pravda.com.ua
Sun, 19 Jan 2025 14:22:43 +0200
Olha Reshetylova, the Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel and Their Families, reported receiving 3,876 complaints in 20 days, over 300 of which were unrelated to her offices mandate.
Source Reshetylova on Facebook Details Reshetylova identified the leading issues among complaints as delays in referrals to military medical boards, treatment accessibility, and difficulties in transferring between units.
She noted cases involving a lack of treatment referrals for injuries, urgent and planned surgeries, severe concussions, panic attacks, acute posttraumatic disorders, etc.
Quote from Reshetylova Military personnel suffer from illnesses for months on end, and often end up deserting their military unit or place of service which is a criminal offence ed.
just to receive medical assistance.
For example, yesterday, I received a complaint from a soldier mobilized with HIV voluntarily, at the start of the war.
His health issues have worsened bleeding ulcers, ENT complications, and a host of other conditions.
His unit refuses to send him for treatment or a military medical board.
He has a surgery scheduled for 24 January, yet the unit threatens to report him for unauthorised abandonment of the unit.
Why What is the unit trying to achieve The death of this soldier Effective performance of tasks in his condition Details Reshetylova also revealed that, at times, she personally calls commanders to request them to sign the permits for time off.
She pointed out that some commanders are not complying with orders for transfers to other units, despite prior commitments.
The ombudswoman described the issue of desertion as a complex problem and shared instances where soldiers returned after it but remained unpaid and unassigned for over four months, in what is effectively slavery.
She acknowledged, however, that progress had been made in some cases, and the issue of desertion was practically resolved.
Quote from Reshetylova The State Bureau of Investigations is delaying the processing of appeals by military personnel seeking reinstatement, necessary documents, or court petitions to lift criminal charges.
Even after court rulings to close cases and exempt them from criminal liability, soldiers are not reinstated due to the lack of a mechanism for such reinstatement.
Details Reshetylova added that the Office of the Military Ombudsperson is also working on cases involving missing soldiers from the 155th Separate Mechanised Brigade.
Six complaints have been filed regarding torture, beatings, and illtreatment.
In one case, the Office identified a battalion commander responsible for such actions and submitted a report to the State Bureau of Investigations.
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