One had head and chest wounds and lost his left eye and his hearing in both ears. Another was blind in one eye and could see only dim, blurred shapes through the other. A third had broken bones, multiple shrapnel wounds, a ruptured radial nerve, and a "completely useless right arm" that "just hangs there, dangling."All three Russian men, seriously wounded in the war against Ukraine, were sent back to the front despite their condition, according to relatives, friends, and activists.As Russia struggles to replace soldiers being killed and wounded in huge numbers in the fifth year of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there is mounting evidence of the military returning men to the war despite severe injuries and, in some cases, medical reports saying they are not fit for further service in combat.
Wounded soldiers have been plucked from homes and hospitals -- or sent back into battle before they have a chance to get away from the war zone, activists say.Pavel Podgrushny, 38, enlisted in 2023 and was sprung from prison not long after he was sentenced to eight years over a fatal car crash, according to a relative, Dmitry, whose full name is being withheld for safety reasons.By December, Podgrushny was sent to the front, and he was hospitalized in April 2024."He suffered head and chest injuries. He lost his left eye. He lost his hearing -- his eardrums ruptured," Dmitry said, adding that Podgrushny was sent home to recover and declared temporarily unfit for service -- but never got the documents confirming that status."Why are you so worried? They'll come later," Dmitry quoted the chief doctor at the hospital in the southern city of Volgograd where he had been treated as saying. "They can't take him back to the army without an eye."But his family fears that's exactly what happened.'Beyond Belief'Last September, Podgrushny was summoned to a recruitment center. Later he was declared a deserter and spent six months fighting for a formal discharge. One day, abruptly, he was detained and his phone confiscated, and his family has not heard from him since."He simply won't survive a month" in the combat zone, Dmitry said. "It's beyond belief."Podgrushny's case is not far from unique, said Igor, a rights activist. He cited the example of Mikhail, who was raised in an orphanage and was seriously wounded three months after signing a contract in June 2024, left with badly limited vision in his remaining eye.After he struggled to receive even basic treatment, a medical commission "declared him fit for duty in five minutes, detained him, and the next day, they sent him -- blind -- to the front," said Igor, who did not want his last name published for security reasons.According to Igor, there are increasingly frequent instances of military officers coming to the homes of soldiers who have been discharged for medical reasons and dragooning them back into service.
