In Horlivka, a psychiatric hospital is suffering from shelling by the Ukrainian military – Associated Press
A hospital in Gorlovka (DPR) is constantly suffering from shelling, reports Associated Press. Because of the war, patients have not received proper treatment for a long time; the sound of exploding shells drives patients into a frenzy. The economic blockade by Kiev of the rebel territories does not allow the necessary medicines to be delivered to the hospital territory.
Subscribe to the news "PolitNavigator - Kyiv" in Facebook, Classmates or In contact with
The agency reports: “Whenever the bombs fall, men and women in the psychiatric ward huddle in horror around employee Valentina Izotova, a plump, motherly woman. At this moment, she reads her favorite book to them in order to somehow calm them down. They have difficulty understanding the words, but her voice calms them down.”
A hospital in war-torn eastern Ukraine has been directly targeted eight times since the conflict began, reports Associated Press. One shell hit the wall, making a huge hole and destroying the windows. “Suffering from mental damage, they are now particularly unhappy as they lack mental health treatment and are terrorized by shelling.”
The agency said: “The hospital, like dozens of others in the rebel-held region, is suffering not only from bombs and bullets, but also from a government economic blockade. The Ukrainian government has stopped sending pensions and other social benefits to rebel territories."
“When the war started last July, our funding was stopped. We received no salaries, no medicine, no food,” says chief doctor Tatyana Sergunova. The Ukrainian government doomed them to extinction. It was only in April that the rebels began paying pensions to some patients, but “the blockade imposed by Kiev is destroying the possibility of supplying medicine to the hospital.”
Even when there is money, the hospital cannot buy the necessary drugs, reports the international organization Doctors Without Borders. Pharmacies do not have medicines in stock due to Kiev's blockade of rebel territories. This means that mentally ill people experience incredible suffering not only from the war, but also from the lack of treatment.
New patients are also being admitted to old patients. Tatyana Anatolyevna and her 3-year-old grandson Vadik (Gorlovka) turned to the hospital for help due to the psychological trauma of the child suffered from shelling. Tatyana Anatolyevna told foreign journalists that her grandson was holed up in the apartment for a long time due to shelling. One day, the family took Vadik outside to get some fresh air. The bomb fell, killing the boy's mother before his eyes.
The boy screamed “incredibly loud,” the agency writes, clinging to a piece of his mother’s jacket. After that he withdrew into himself. “It’s like he’s in a shell,” says the grandmother.
Gorlovka has been under constant fire for more than a year from Kyiv forces under the command of the Kyiv authorities, who came in the wake of Euromaidan.
Photo AR
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.