Russian Military Hospitals Refuse To Treat 'Volunteer' Fighters Injured In Ukraine: Report

Russian military hospitals are now refusing to give medical aid to "volunteers" wounded in the war against Ukraine, according to Ukrainian intelligence.

The claim was made in a report posted Sunday by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The intelligence report noted that wounded servicemen who were turned away were part of the Russian Federation's "Union of Donbas Volunteers" battalion.

"One of the battalions of the so-called 'Union of Donbas Volunteers' suffered heavy losses in firefights near Avdiivka. As the wounded servicemen were brought to a hospital in Russia's Rostov-on-Don, its staff refused to provide medical aid to them citing the fact that the unit is not formally part of Russia's regular army," the intelligence report read. "In all such cases where the wounded are refused hospital treatment, medics cite direct instructions by their command."

In addition to refusing medical aid to volunteers, Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate also said that there is a conflict brewing between the "mobilized" soldiers from the territory of the Luhansk and Donetsk Peoples' Republic (LDPR) and the Russian military after the latter left the mobilized servicemen behind while retreating from its positions with no support. The Main Intelligence Directorate noted that some LDPR units were totally destroyed as a result.

The intelligence report concluded with a tally of military equipment that the Russians have left in the Kharkiv region due to the fierce counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army. Among the equipment abandoned were T-72B3M, T-80BVM and T-80UE battle tanks, BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled guns and trucks.

The intelligence report comes as Ukraine continues to make gains during its counteroffensive operation. Since Sept. 15, Kyiv's army has successfully recaptured 388 settlements and 8,500 square kilometers of territory from the Russian army.

Since the war began in February, the Russian military has also lost an estimated 54,480 soldiers, according to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. To cope with the military losses, the Russian army is reportedly using mobile recruiting trucks and offering nearly $2,700 monthly incentives in hopes of attracting volunteers and contract soldiers for the war in Ukraine, Aljazeera reported.

Update: A previous version of this article erroneously mentioned the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia instead of the Luhansk and Donetsk Peoples' Republic. This has since been rectified.