Tied Up Babies, Lack of Medicine and Torture: Cruel Reality in Children’s Special Institutions of Mykolaiv Oblast
Cases of gross violations of children’s rights in specialized institutions and boarding schools periodically surface in Ukraine. Despite reforms, increased control and legislative changes, society repeatedly learns about abuse, neglect and neglect of the basic needs of children who find themselves in difficult life circumstances. Stories of lack of medical care, unsanitary conditions, violence and indifference of staff became regular. And again a terrible case – in the Mykolayiv region, the monitoring group of the Ombudsman’s Office discovered numerous violations in special institutions where children are raised.
Audit discovered lack of access to medical care and education, use of expired medicines, and separation of children according to the principle of “own-other”. The Ombudsman’s office said that at the Center for Medical Rehabilitation and Palliative Care for Children, staff used coercive restraint techniques – effectively tying children with belts and securing them in chairs or prams so that they did not require much attention. The most terrible thing was that such methods were applied even to a six-month-old baby. His hands were swollen and had signs of fixation after being bandaged.
The staff explained this as “preventing injury”, but the monitoring group emphasized that such actions were a violation of the child’s rights and actual torture. It was established that the care of eight children, including five infants and three in need of palliative care, was carried out by only two workers. Although according to the documents, the branch had 89 employees, on the day of the inspection there were critically few of them.
Children in the institution were not even given individual clothes, including underwear. Their welfare records were in disarray, with staff justifying it by saying “no one wants” such children, especially children with disabilities. This is a clear example of discrimination and disregard for their rights.
In addition, alcoholic beverages were found in the establishment. Representatives of the Ombudsman’s Office also visited the Lysohirsk special school, where evacuated children from other institutions are staying. They found that evacuee children do not have equal access to services, live in overcrowded rooms of 10 people, and keep personal belongings in boxes. The temperature in their living quarters did not exceed 15°C. Children from the Mykolaiv Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation were forced to take a shower in a room without partitions and locks, while students from the Shirokolaniv Special School used a street toilet for two years.
In addition, children from the Mykolaiv Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation of Children use the assembly hall — protective structures installed in the Antoniv Lyceum of Arts — instead of shelter.
At the same time, the Office of the Ombudsman stated that, in addition to violations of the rights of evacuated children, a similar situation exists with respect to the rights of students of host institutions. In particular, deficiencies were identified in terms of ensuring children’s right to life and safety, dignity, adequate and safe nutrition.
Another terrible fact is the issue of expired psychotropic drugs to children. Some pets were sick with scabies, but they were left in isolation without a medical examination for nine days. One child had to call an ambulance because of rashes on his body, which the staff simply ignored. It was revealed that the administration of the educational institution where the evacuated children were staying closed the shelter due to fears that “there will be smoke”, depriving the children of a safe place during the unrest in the frontline region.
The Ombudsman’s office has already sent a statement about the commission of a crime, provided for in part. 2 Art. 127 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Torture), to the Office of the Prosecutor General. Acts of response have also been sent to the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine and other state bodies. The police of the region opened criminal proceedings on the fact of torturing children. Currently, a pre-trial investigation is underway, examinations are being conducted, and based on their results, a legal assessment of the actions of each person involved will be provided. The sanction of the article provides up to ten years of imprisonment.
In the Mykolaiv region, a multidisciplinary commission was created, which will check the facts of violation of children’s rights in two specialized institutions, indicated in the ombudsman’s report. About this in Facebook reported the Department of Education and Science of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration on Facebook, reports Ukrinform.
As noted in the message, the department received the reports of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on March 3, 2025 regarding the monitoring results of the Lysohirska special school in the Pervomaysky District, and on March 4 – the Antoniv Art Lyceum. A multidisciplinary working group was formed to respond to the comments made in the documents. It was headed by the deputy director of the department Olena Kravets.
The commission included representatives of the Department of Education, the Children’s Service, the State Emergency Service, the National Police, doctors and representatives of two public organizations. They will conduct monitoring visits to the specified institutions and verify the information presented in the Ombudsman’s reports.
However, the question remains open: how did it become possible for such violations to continue for years, and who should be held responsible for the suffering of children in public institutions?
