Moscow grapples with a generation of crippled men

"We care for the heroes," the Russian war ministry highlights in a patriotic-style presentation of its new hospital in Mirny, Arkhangelsk region.

The medical centre with 300 beds is designed to provide care to military personnel and their families, as well as rehabilitation services, the ministry reports.

The facility covers a 126,000 square metre big area and includes 11 buildings, several of them inter-connected with each other. Reportedly, more than 30,000 pieces of modern medical equipment have been acquired for the project. 

Around the hospital area are high fences and by the entrance is a checkpoint for document control. 

Russia is believed to have several hundred thousand men wounded in its war of aggression. Many of them are crippled and will need years of rehabilitation. Many have sustained serious mental illness. 

Little is known about the numbers. Moscow does not want the world, nor the Russians themselves, to learn about the huge toll.

Information about the many men killed and wounded on occupied land is subjected to strict censorship. Similarly, details about the new military hospitals are sparse.

The war ministry's construction department only briefly informs about the construction projects. On its websites are short videos and image presentations of military hospitals that are under construction in the regions of Kursk, Belgorod, Bryansk, Samara, Ryazan, Penza, Mirny, St.Petersburg, Moscow, and more.

According to Igor Makovsky, general director of the military construction complex, as many as 20 new military hospitals are to be ready to treat patients in the course of 2025.

"The schedule must be strictly adhered to. All complex problems are solved promptly, 24/7," he said in a statement.

The military construction company was previously headed by Timur Ivanov, the deputy defence minister that in June 2025 was convicted to 13 years in prison for accepting bribes "on a particularly large scale."

Also in the Kola Peninsula the war ministry invests in military hospitals. The far northern region that houses the powerful Northern Fleet, has several military hospitals, most of them in a state of serious decay. 

Among them is the hospital in Polyarny, which originally was built in 1940. For decades, the hospital had status as the Northern Fleet's main hospital.

The dilapidated clinic is now getting a major facelift. 

According to the Military Construction Company, the renovated four-floors hospital will have 150 beds.

"This is the first major renovation of this historic building. At the peak of the work, 90 people were working here. The central building and the left wing are 100 percent complete. The walls are 70 percent finished. The ceiling frames, electrical and water supply networks have been installed. The floors have been replaced and, together with the walls, are being prepared for final finishing with tiles. We are making every effort to complete the project on time, while the hospital continues to operate and military personnel receive all the necessary assistance," said military builder Konstantin Demenok.

The major investments notwithstanding, most of the other military hospitals in the Kola Peninsula are in a dire condition.

Among them is the hospital in Gadzhievo, the navy town that houses Russia's strategically important submarine base. 

"A sad sight. The hospital in Gadzhiyevo has not been renovated for a long time, judging by the peeling walls and prehistoric doors," a recent visitor reported on social media.

Nevertheless, patients from all over Russia are sent to Gadzhievo for treatment, local mayor Ilyas Mazitov confirmed. Many of them come directly from the frontline in Ukraine.

Local authorities are making great effort to entertain the wounded men. Cultural groups regularly hold pro-war performances in the hospitals and local schools and kindergartens make patriotic artworks and send letters of support. 

Also the Russian Orthodox Church is engaged. Among the priests that regularly make visits to the hospital in Polyarny is Sergei Sherfetdinov. The local priest has himself been on occupied Ukrainian land to serve the Russian troops that attack the Ukrainians and conduct war crimes.

During a visit in April 2024, Sherfetdinov gave a lecture about historical exploits of the Russian army, and so-called 'bravery' of Russian military men.

"With his experience of serving in the SVO zone, the priest always finds the right words to boost morale and provide spiritual support," the local government reported on its website.

The Northern Fleet also has a hospital in Pechenga, the military town located only few kilometres from the border to Norway and Finland. In August 2023, it was visited by then Northern Fleet Commander Aleksandr Moiseev and Murmansk Governor Andrei Chibis. 

"The state and the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation highly appreciate the way you selflessly fulfil your military duty. From the first day of the special military operation, representatives of all units of the Northern Fleet's coastal forces have shown heroism and courage in the most difficult areas, successfully completing the tasks assigned to them," the commander noted.

Moiseev, who few months later was promoted to the post as head commander of the Navy, said nothing about the huge losses of the local troops. According to a Norwegian intelligence report, the two brigades in the Pechenga region lost 80 percent of their servicemen and equipment in less than a year of full-scale war.

The hospital in Pechenga is believed to be in major need of upgrade. Nevertheless, the wounded soldiers apparently did not express a word of displeasure to the visiting navy commander.

"During the meeting, the soldiers reported that they were receiving all necessary treatment and rehabilitation at the military hospital, and some of them had even decided to go home on leave," local state media reported.