In gratitude for the service - a new hand

Against the background of the war with Ukraine, Russia sets records for the production of prostheses

An endless war against Ukraine contributed to the development of the industry industry in Russia. The state spends millions of rubles on mechanical arms and legs with microprocessors. The exact number of Russians crippled at the front remains unknown.

Much higher than many countries

- Strange times: Cyborgs are now walking around Moscow. In the war, the guy torn his hand away, made him a mechanical one and again sent him to the front, but then they returned home still, the tattooist from Moscow shares the history of his client.

And he sends the video: a man of dense physique stands in front of the mirror, shoots himself on the phone that holds in his right hand. Instead of the left hand - a black prosthesis. The crippled fighter “Swim” moves mechanical fingers and smiles. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation does not publish data on losses in the war with Ukraine, but there are a lot of disabled people.

-When there was mobilization, the personnel officer caught and pressed the agenda for our Bild-editor. He went, returned without a foot. Now he goes to the office on the prosthesis, he has become closed,

- says an employee of one of the media working in Russia .

Before the start of the war, the number of people who need prostheses decreased. The publication “such cases” found the data of the Ministry of Labor that in 2024, compared with 2023, the number of issued hand prostheses increased from 8.2 thousand to 14.5 thousand. Products for people with absent lower limbs were given 138 thousand-instead of 91 thousand in 2023. The number of disabled strollers issued 18% increased by 18%.

“It seems to me that this is a huge, tremendous jerk in the prosthetic industry, in scientific rehabilitation. [...] Just recently, we went to China, where we studied experience. And I will tell you - probably for the first time we felt a sense of pride. The participants allowed us to reach a priority, flagship level. When what the state does is much higher than many countries, ”in early September, speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum, said the deputy minister of defense of the Russian Federation and the head of the State Fund of the Fatherland, who helps Veterans“ Swate ”Anna Tsivilev, cousin of Vladimir Putin. At the Eastern Economic Forum, Tsivilev also announced that its fund will be engaged in the development of prosthetics in Russia after osteointegration: bones with artificial implants.

“Defenders of the Fatherland” is one of the leading organizations that provides crippled Russian military prostheses. The fund spends billions of rubles on prostheses. In total, the military participating in the invasion of Ukraine, and their families only in 2025, the Tsivilevoy fund allocated 25 billion rubles from the budget.

Millions for the state account

According to the Russian legislation, disabled people who have lost (or born without) arms or legs are provided by the state. The main operator of this process is the social fund of Russia. The state can be requested by both a ready -made prosthesis and compensation for expenses for an independent product.

People who are crippled in the war receive the first prosthesis from the Ministry of Defense, after two years of use they can update it through the social fund. In parallel, prostheses are provided by “defenders of the Fatherland”, regional budget organizations and private funds.

The disabled person may have several prostheses replacing limbs: for example, one simply externally imitates the missing hand, with the help of the other you can wear heavy bags, the third - to be controlled by a knife and a fork or printed on a computer. These are prostheses with electronics that read muscle signals from the stump.

If a person without a leg wants to run, he will need a prosthesis of one structure, and to just walk or dance, another. Often prostheses are painted by artists, for this there are special workshops.

Almost any prosthesis is an individual product, they can not be put immediately after a hand or leg was torn off in the war, a stump should form. The process is controlled by a profile specialist. The disabled prostheses that are not approaching each other resell to each other, and sometimes for use.

The authorities of the Russian Federation really spend a lot of money on prostheses for disabled people. In the base "Contour. Focus ”In the preparation of the material, it was possible to find a large number of fresh multimillion -dollar public procurement of this kind:

“Performing work on the manufacture of a modular thigh prosthesis with microprocessor controls. The price of the contract is 4 667 433.21 rubles. ”

• “The provision of services for the provision of a disabled person with a modular prosthesis when isolated thighs with microprocessor controls. The price of the contract is 5 350 000.00 rubles. ”

• “The provision of services for the provision of a disabled person with a brush prosthesis with microprocessor administration, including with partial isolation of the brush. The price of the contract is 8 772 157.33 rubles. ”

• “Performing work on the manufacture of a shoulder prosthesis with microprocessor controls. The price of the contract is 4 604 544.65 rubles. ”

• “Performing work on the manufacture of a shoulder prosthesis with a microprocessor administration of a contract price 3,466,688.00 rubles.”

- In Russia, the Olympics in Sochi attracted attention to the disabled, because the Paralympic Games were held with it. This contributed to the development of the prosthetics industry, and then it came, ”says the interlocutor of Novaya Gazeta Europe, working with people with disabilities .

RBC cites data presented in 2023 by the Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov: in Russia there were 250 companies that conduct their own developments in this area. Of the 126 Russian prosthesis manufacturers, 40% are developing products based on robotics, neurotechnologies and virtual reality.

The prosthesis is fashionable

In one of the recent interviews, the former “People’s Governor of Donbass” Pavel Gubarev talked about the need for mass and at the same time non -violent mobilization in the Russian army. “Do you want to make the war fashionable? Like a prosthesis is beautiful? " - asked his host. “Like that,” answered Gubarev.

In Russian media there are materials romanticizing the lives of people who have lost their arms and legs in the war against Ukraine.

“He was an ordinary person, average. Now everything began to play with new colors: there were many acquaintances among people with disabilities, as well as in the media sphere. This year he played in Stavropol for the Crimea team in table tennis among the disabled, took third place. For this, the head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, handed the winners a named watch, including me.

And there was also more free time - to comprehend life and search for new solutions, what you can do to be happy, began to devote more time to the family ”,

- In an interview with Rossiy Gazeta, a person who was left without a leg during the assault on Bakhmut says .

“Once, a nurse Polina, smiling and very beautiful, entered the ward, like a cane. Mikhail was amazed at how easily she talked, how she never made it clear that he was something different from ordinary men, even when she made dressings or brought him in a stroller to take a shower. Polina told everyone that she was married, but Misha guessed that there was no husband. He began to wait for her arrival every day. And as soon as she went into the ward, her heart began to tremble. I wanted to joke and hear her gentle laugh in response. Michael realized that he fell in love. But how to win such extraordinary? Smart, well -read, calm. Four higher education! In the afternoon, she was a head teacher at school, taught a story, worked as a child psychologist, and volunteer in the hospital in the evenings, ”the text“ Lost legs, found happiness ”“ Arguments and Facts of Belgorod ” talk about a fighter in an Avdeevka area and having lost her legs.

The loss of arms and legs in battle - with the exception of desertion, is now one of the slightly true ways to leave the front for the mobilized ones. The state refuse to let them go from the war. So for them and their loved ones, even severe disability is not the worst option.

In groups of mobilized in social networks, prosthetics are a constant topic for discussion . People share the experience of drawing up documents, in the comments they leave advertising SMM-shifters of prosthetic companies. The process of getting used to prosthesis is always complex, not all prostheses are successful. But many Russians crippled in the war are satisfied with the products received from the state.

- I have a modular prosthesis with a foot on microprocessor control. The foot is good, high quality. There is also an ordinary foot, also quite good, ”says Ilya .

- The brother was torn off his leg, he is being done now, he had to achieve. In our Voronezh region, they are not very moved. For some reason, for some reason, the car is not laid for disabled people, I’m trying to find out why, ” Svetlana complains.

Another interlocutor of Novo-Europe, who has nothing to do with the army, recently made a prosthesis in Simferopol.

- They put me a modern and high -quality prosthesis.

One problem: there are no rehabilitation centers. The prosthesis is brought, go yourself,

She says.

The ex-deputy of the Moscow City Duma Evgeny Stupin, who is in relay, makes regular reviews of the problems that Russian military faces on his YouTube channel. He told the Novaya Gazeta Europe that so far the state mainly provides the prostheses of the disabled people " But in the case of an increase in their number of quantities, it will become more difficult to cope with the financing of crippled people in war, Supin believes.