All children were moved to other regions after violations were discovered in the Children's Home in Mykolaiv
- Alisa Melik-Adamian
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9:10, 10 May, 2025
An infant who was later found to have swelling on his arms after being strapped into a wheelchair. Photo: Office of the OmbudsmanAll children from the Centre for Medical Rehabilitation and Palliative Care for Children in Mykolaiv have been moved to other institutions due to violations of their living conditions.
The decision was made after a monitoring visit by representatives of the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, according to a post on their website.
Numerous problems were recorded in the institution, which, according to the Ombudsman, violated the rights of children. These included inadequate living conditions, care and medical care.
The Office provided recommendations to the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration to improve conditions for minors. Based on the order of the healthcare department of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration of 28 April, it was decided to move all children to specialised institutions:
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1 child was transferred to the Ternopil Regional Centre for Child Rehabilitation and Development;
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8 children were moved to the Rivne Regional Specialised Children's Home with a rehabilitation and palliative care centre.
On 3 March, it was reported that the monitoring group of the Ombudsman's Office, together with NGOs, inspected children's educational institutions in Mykolaiv region and found gross violations of children's rights. The children were fixed with belts to chairs and strollers, and a six-month-old baby suffered swelling from «tying». In other institutions, children were given expired medicines, did not receive medical care and had limited access to basic services.
Inna Miroshnychenko, an orphans' rights activist and lawyer, showed the conditions in which children live in the reorganised Centre for Medical Rehabilitation and Palliative Care in Mykolaiv (Regional Children's Home). She showed the children tied to chairs, who are not allowed to go for walks and are forced to spend time watching TV.
The human rights activist said that according to the conditions, 89 staff members are supposed to take care of the children. However, according to the data from the Ombudsman's Office monitoring team, only two employees were looking after the children. She called the conditions in which the children were kept inhumane.
It should be noted that in April 2024, the Centre for Medical Rehabilitation and Palliative Care was merged with the Mykolaiv Regional Children's Hospital.» At the time, this decision was explained by the need to «protect the institution from a lack of funding.