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Report on the results of monitoring of quality of the autumn recruiting campaign-2003

26.10.2004   
Maya Kriukova, Kharkov
The Kharkov Union of soldiers’ mothers (KhUSM) continues the monitoring of the quality of recruiting campaigns.

The Kharkov Union of soldiers’ mothers (KhUSM) continues the monitoring of the quality of recruiting campaigns. After the end of the autumn recruiting campaign-2003 we sent 70 letters to the military units, to which the recruits from Kharkov and the oblast had been directed. We received 28 responses -- 40% of the total number of the sent letters. Commanders of the military units provided data about 681 persons.

Commanders of 9 military units are satisfied with the fresh forces, they point out that the youths are ready for the service in the Ukrainian army. This concerns 146 servicemen, that is 21.44% of the total number.

76 young soldiers from 13 military units got to hospitals or medical units during a month after the arrival to their military units, which makes 11.6% of the total number (681) and 16.96% of the number of Kharkovites in these units.

8 persons were discovered, whose chronic diseases had exacerbated – 1.17% of the total number of the examined. By the way, according to the results of monitoring of the spring recruiting campaign-2003, this proportion was 5.59%. This evidences on the improvement of work of medical recruiting commissions.

Yet, some drawbacks were not liquidated. This is confirmed by the cases, where servicemen are dismissed because of the state of health.

So, the commander of military unit А3769 writes in his letter: “At the thorough medical examination, which was conducted in our unit from 10 November to 14 November 2003 by the specialists of the Vinnitsa medical center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the medics disclosed that private Vladimir Bugaytsov (from the village of Petropavlivka, the Kupiansk district of the Kharkov oblast) had the consequences of craniocerebral trauma in the form of psychical-emotional instability. From 17 November 2003 to 14 January 2004 private Bugaytsov underwent the stationary medical examination in the main clinical military hospital of Kyiv, where he was acknowledged to be not able-bodied. On 15 January 2004 he was dismissed from the army because of the disease with the diagnosis: “Consequences of the closed craniocerebral trauma in the form of stable evident astheno-neurotic and emotional-volitional disorders of the mild degree, and the vegetovascular dystonia of insignificant degree”. The disease was not connected with the army service. That means that the work of the medical commission of the Kharkov oblast military commissariat was unsatisfactory.

Moreover, there are some drawbacks in the completion of personal records of recruits:

-  information about the families of recruits is absent, as well as the cards of professional-psychological examination;

-  lack of characteristics from the last place of employment or education, references about criminal records and references about the tax identification number is observed”.

Unfortunately, all these drawbacks are disclosed only during the army service.

The Kupiansk district military commissariat (DMC) of the Kharkov oblast had also enlisted Vitaliy Bystritskiy, who was dismissed by medical commission of the military unit А3306 with the diagnosis “consequences of early organic lesion of cerebral brain with stable emotional-volitional disorders” (information from the letter of commander of military unit А2467).

Whether there is not enough medical establishments or competent doctors in Kharkov, who would make such scandalous cases impossible! This is the second case (known to us) during the last year, when a youth is mobilized to the army less than six months after a craniocerebral trauma. One of these cases resulted in invalidity and criminal responsibility. As to the second case, it seems that nobody and never examined the boy.

From the letter of the acting head of the Institute of tank troops: “On the basis of certificate about illness No. 3/7030 of 5 January 2004 issued by the medical commission of military unit А-3306 (Kharkov military hospital) private Yuri Kruchina was dismissed from the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the diagnosis “Stomach ulcer, cicatrized acute ulcer of duodenum bulb”. The soldier had been recruited in November 2003 by the Zolochev district military commissariat of the Kharkov oblast”.

Commander of military unit А-2160 communicates in his letter the data about 7 persons with the high level of neuro-psychical instability. He also writes about privates Levchenko (enlisted by the Dvorichanskiy DMC) and Nesterenko (Moskovskiy DMC), who “were recognized as ineligible for education in the educational center because of their moral and business qualities and psychological characteristics, and were directed for further service to other units of the Southern operative commandment”.

A great anxiousness is aroused by the fact of death of serviceman O. Tereshchenko. By the information of the commander of the military unit A3351, “On 21 January 2004, about 18:00, private Oleksandr Tereshchenko (recruited on 7 November 2003 by the Izium military commissariat) turned to the medical unit of military unit A3351 with high temperature (39.5 C). He was taken to stationary with the diagnosis “acute respiratory disease”. On 22 January 2004, about 5:30 a.m., he went to lavatory and fainted. He got the first medical aid and was directed to the military hospital of the Chernigiv garrison, where he died on 22 January about 9 a.m. The reason of the death was: “Acute respiratory disease in the form of hemorrhagic tracheobronchitis and double hemorrhagic pneumonia aggravated with the acute suprarenal insufficiency, DVS- syndrome and acute pulmonary and cardiac insufficiency”. A criminal case was started after the fact of death of private O. Tereshchenko.”

We contacted with representatives of military prosecutor’s office of Chernigiv, but got the response that the case was not completed yet, and the investigation was carried out (since January!). However, the fact of the death during one day is worrying.

In all our reports on the quality of recruiting campaigns we express the opinion that medical treatment of servicemen in hospitals is much more expensive than examination and treatment in civil medical establishments. That youths go to army only for military training. That medical commissions must be responsible for the quality of recruiting campaigns. That recruiting campaigns must be conducted in compliance with the Law of Ukraine “On military service”.

Alas, the reality is absolutely different.

***

“Prava ludyny” commentary. We published here the report of the Kharkov oblast union of soldiers’ mothers on the results of monitoring of quality of the autumn recruiting campaign-2003.

In our opinion, the conclusion about the improvement of the quality of recruiting campaign in the Kharkov oblast is not final. The monitoring of the situation must be continued after the same methodic in order to make sure of this.

There is also a worrying fact that the complaints, which we received after this recruiting campaign, are systematic, but not accidental. The cases of recruiting youths after the craniocerebral trauma, with stomach ulcer or with erosive gastritis are not rare. In spite of the fact that these diseases are included to the corresponding articles of Order No. 2 (207) of the Ministry of Defense, these articles are frequently ignored by medical commissions, which realize the medical examination.

Besides, we want to turn the attention of our readers to the complaints of commanders about the badly made personal records of the recruits. This is not fault-finding, but a very acute problem, since the incomplete information in personal records often results in enlistment of seriously ill recruits.

We already wrote about the mobilization in 2002 of a boy with enuresis. There was no information in his personal record that he had finished 9 grades of a special boarding school for chronic psychical patients and had a psychiatric diagnosis. The youth threatened with suicide, and it is not known, how this story would end in the military unit, where he served, if the KhUSM would not interfere and get the medical documents from the school and psychiatric hospital.

The incomplete personal records of recruits, and later soldiers, results in the situation, when the youths are taken to the army, who have behavioral disorders, criminal records, are registered in narcological and psychiatric dispensaries. The consequences of underestimation of social and family conditions of recruits may be very serious too. So, all persons, who have the connection with compilation and study of personal records of recruits, must pay more attention to these documents.

The sudden and incomprehensible death of pneumonia of young serviceman O. Tereshchenko also deserves special consideration.

In May 2004 the book in memory of the perished in the peaceful time during army service was published in Kharkov, and the grievous list has been already supplemented with one more name.

As it frequently happens, the investigation lasts for many months and there is no answer to the question why a young and healthy man suddenly died of pneumonia. Maybe, he was not health, when he was mobilized? And maybe nobody paid the attention to his disease at the proper time? Or maybe he had been beaten, and the hemorrhagic pneumonia was a result of the trauma?

We are waiting for the answer from investigating organs and will inform the “Prava ludyny” readers about it. Because the death of a young soldier in the peaceful time is a national tragedy, and we have no right to interpret it otherwise.

Inna Sukhorukova

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