Hospitals have become another EuroMaidan frontline from where injured activists have been kidnapped, one of whom ended up dead on Jan. 23. To mitigate the danger of abduction, the Center for Society Research, a local think tank, has mobilized a group of volunteers to provide security at area hospitals.
Iryna Kogut of the Center for Society Research says that on any given day around 100 activists patrol two of the city’s hospitals.
“We (first) focused on four city hospitals, (but) now our activists mostly cover the Kyiv City Emergency Care and Oleksandrivska (formerly Zhovtneva) hospitals on Shovkovychna Street,” Kogut explains.
Volunteers in addition ensure the identities of admitted activists are known and arrange for them to receive legal assistance if necessary.
“We’re kind of reactive group,” Kogut explains. “Our main task is to check all the activists who received medical treatment and monitor the situation, so when the police come for testimonies or some unknown people are trying to take activists away, we try to warn other volunteers, journalists or members of parliament,” said Kogut, adding that AutoMaidan activists were always helpful in these situations.
The group has also cooperated with Afghan war veterans who have been providing security on Independence Square.
Called Hospital Guard, the group started patrolling city hospitals on Jan. 22, the day after a group of 10 unknown men abducted two EuroMaidan activists from an area hospital: Yuriy Verbytsky and Ihor Lutsenko. Verbytsky was found dead in a wooded area outside Kyiv on Jan. 23, while Lutsenko survived the ordeal with injuries and a missing tooth.
Kogut, who has worked more than 10 night shifts at hospitals, says the first days were scary.
“My first shift was in Oleksandrivska hospital and I remember some unknown car patrolling the territory throughout the night – and I couldn’t find out who was there. It’s the biggest problem so far – as you always need to double check all the information we receive and everything we face during the shifts,” Kogut says.
Although the group covers only Kyiv hospitals, they say they’re ready to share their experience with activists in other cities. Despite a tense truce in place on Independence Square and on Hrushevskoho Street between protesters and police, Kogut says they “will keep patrolling hospitals as long as needed.”
“There are still some 15-17 activists at the Kyiv City Emergency Care hospital so our activists have their usual guard duties there,” Kogut says, adding that women turned to be more active volunteers, even though night shifts are not easy.
Iryna Kudrya, a native Kyivan, decided to join the initiative in late January. She said she can’t forget any of her three shifts.
“My first 12-hour night shift was at Zhovtneva hospital,” Kudrya said, adding that she was admired by the activists who were there. “Most of the injured activists there don’t have relatives or friends to take care of them. I couldn’t be a patient when I see this and that’s why I thought I need to join the Guard.”
The medical staff, Kudrya said, finds the initiative helpful.
“We have a shift in the same section of the hospital that started some days after Lutsenko and Verbytsky were abducted. And the nurses were impressed to see young girls who stepped out to patrol the hospital,” Kudrya said. “In general they were very friendly. They shared hot beverages and sandwiches during our night shifts.”
Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected].
