Mariupol Hospitals ‘So Full of Wounded Russian Soldiers, They’ve Stopped Accepting Civilians’

Hospitals in Mariupol are so overwhelmed with injured Russian troops they have had to stop admitting civilians, a Ukrainian official has claimed.

In a post on Telegram, adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andryushchenko, claimed 300-400 residents of the city are dying because of the situation.

He captioned the post with the words “The Mariupol hospital is once again receiving potential candidates for visits to Prigozhin and Kobzon.” This references the deaths of the head of the Wagner PMC in a plane crash and a popular singer from Soviet times with connections to the powerful who became despised by later generations.

The mayor’s advisor went on to say that there are so many wounded Russians that hospitals in Mariupol have stopped accepting sick civilians, alleging that people are pumped up with pills, painkillers and sent home. This is called undergoing treatment “in a calm environment. 

He further comments that, in spite of the supposed presence of highly qualified medical personnel failure to treat civilians is resulting in an increase in the mortality rate in Mariupol.

“Every week, due to such criminal policies, we lose 300 to 400 Mariupol residents,” he said.

On Aug. 14, Andryushchenko told Hromadske Radio that Mariupol health workers were deliberately discharging patients from hospitals so that they would die at home, and not in the medical facility. 

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He said: “As for medical care in Mariupol, it's only possible to die in the city, and that's basically all.”

It is known that in the city of Mariupol, Donetsk region, there is only one intensive care hospital. As Andryushchenko says, the Russians claimed to have opened three new hospitals, but “you can't call them hospitals, because there have no in-patient facilities there.”

There is also a big problem with supplies of insulin for diabetics many of whom are now suffering badly.

“It is a very common practice that people are not allowed to die in hospital. That is, they are given anything [different medicine, treatments] and if then, it is realized that the situation will not improve, people are sent home to die.”

According to the Mariupol authorities, a year ago, when after heavy fighting in the city there was no water or electricity, the death rate was about 250 people a week, and it has now reached as many as 400.

“This is despite the fact that the hospital are said to be working. In general, this situation demonstrates there is really a lack of doctors,” added the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol.

The city of Mariupol, located in the Donetsk region, was blockaded by Russian troops in the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. From the beginning of March 2022, the city was under siege before coming under full Russian occupation in the second half of May