Kathrine Frich
A shocking new case from Russia has drawn outrage after a disabled man was reportedly taken from his hospital bed and sent to the front line in Ukraine, on crutches and wearing slippers.
The case, reported by the independent outlet ASTRA, has reignited anger over Vladimir Putin’s mobilization tactics as the Kremlin struggles to replenish its ranks amid heavy losses.
Sent to fight on crutches
According to ASTRA, 53-year-old Igor Tishchenko, originally from Ukraine’s Donetsk region but living in the Moscow area, was drafted into Russia’s assault forces despite being seriously injured.
Tishchenko suffered a spinal injury during military training that left him unable to move or turn his head properly.
Even so, he was transferred to Avdiivka to join a combat brigade, reportedly on crutches.
He had signed his contract in October 2023 but was injured a year later and spent months recovering in hospitals and care homes.
During that time, doctors diagnosed him with coronary heart disease and diabetes.
Declared “unfit,” but still deployed
Medical documents cited by ASTRA show doctors recommended Tishchenko be declared category “D,” meaning “unfit for service.”
Yet on November 7, officers from his military unit allegedly arrived at the Republican Center for Occupational Pathology and Rehabilitation in Donetsk and forced him to leave for the front.
His wife, Elena Tishchenko, said: “On the evening of the 7th, as he was in tights and slippers, they put him in a car and took him to Avdiivka. On November 8, around one o’clock in the afternoon, he contacted me for the last time and said:
‘That’s it, we’re on our way, we’re being sent.’ He hasn’t been in touch since.” She added: “He’s alive there, inanimate. They just want to get rid of him.”
Wife pleads for help
Elena said she repeatedly begged for assistance from Russian authorities but received no response.
“What is he supposed to do there on crutches? He has now been sent to Avdiivka on crutches to an assault brigade and sent into battle. What kind of war do they want to win with the disabled?!” she told ASTRA.
She said the deputy commander of her husband’s regiment, Maxim Semenich, had refused to release him from duty despite earlier promising a medical review.
Her attempts to contact the Russian Ministry of Defence, the military and civilian prosecutor’s offices, the Presidential Administration, the Defenders of the Fatherland State Fund, and the FSB have all gone unanswered.
Widespread outrage
The story has sparked anger and disbelief on Russian social media, where critics see it as further proof of the Kremlin’s disregard for human life.
Independent monitors have documented multiple cases of wounded or unfit men being forced back into combat as Moscow’s losses mount in eastern Ukraine.
For many, Tishchenko’s case has come to symbolize the desperation of Russia’s war effort, and the extent to which even the gravely ill are no longer spared from being sent to the front.
Sources: ASTRA, Express, Reuters, Digi24
This article is made and published by Kathrine Frich, who may have used AI in the preparation
