US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the treatment of wounded Ukrainian troopers at a US army hospital in Germany, in response to a memo obtained by CNN and confirmed by two US protection officers.
The plan permits for the therapy of as much as 18 wounded troopers at a time a Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the large hospital in Germany the place the army has, for years, handled US service members who suffered accidents in fight.
Austin provided verbal steerage on May 26 to start providing therapy to wounded Ukraine troopers, in response to the memo. On June 29, Austin formalized the verbal steerage and in a memo entitled “Guidance for Medical Treatment of Wounded Ukrainian Service Members.”
Despite the plan receiving ultimate approval practically one month in the past, Landstuhl has not but acquired Ukrainian service members for medical care.
An official from US European Command informed CNN, “We have not treated any Ukraine troops at Landstuhl.”
The official mentioned the aim of the memo was to take away any purple tape that may decelerate the method of providing therapy if the necessity arose. The plan would allow therapy if there was no facility obtainable in Ukraine or in a more in-depth nation. Landstuhl is roughly 700 miles (greater than 1,000 kilometers) from the Ukrainian border.
If Landstuhl have been to obtain wounded Ukrainian troops, the service members must depart Ukraine by prepare or automobile, which has no troops in Ukraine, earlier than the US may evacuate them by air to Ramstein Air Base.
On Monday, Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, posted a video on Twitter exhibiting Ukrainian troopers receiving prosthetic legs at a hospital in Chicago. A second video posted Tuesday confirmed the troopers strolling on the prosthetic limbs.
But this might look like the primary authorization for Ukrainian troops to obtain therapy of army amenities as a substitute of civilian hospitals.
More background: In late-April, a bipartisan group of lawmakers wrote a letter to Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the administration to do extra to assist the “struggling healthcare systems” in Ukraine and Poland.
One of the requests was to “scale-up” Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to deal with sick and wounded Ukrainians. The authors mentioned it might comply with the US resolution to supply therapy to Afghan refugees who transited by way of the adjoining Ramstein Air Base final yr. The letter additionally urged the administration to ship armored ambulances and set up a a number of army area hospitals alongside the Poland-Ukraine border.
“You have a unique opportunity to showcase American leadership by providing medical support to Ukrainians that will inspire other NATO states to follow suit,” the authors wrote.
John Kirby, then serving because the Pentagon press secretary, mentioned Austin had acquired the letter dated April 22 and would “certainly take it seriously and respond appropriately.” Kirby mentioned that any resolution to offer area hospitals or US humanitarian assist can be carried out in session with the host nation.
CNN has reached out to quite a few the letter’s signatories for remark.
On the day Austin issued verbal steerage to start providing therapy to Ukrainian troopers, the highest US normal spoke along with his Ukrainian counterpart. A readout of the dialog between Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Gen. Valery Zaluzhny makes no point out of opening up US army medical amenities to Ukrainian service members
One month later, Austin formalized the verbal steerage on a day he spoke with Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov. According to a readout of the decision, Austin gave an replace on US safety help efforts, however there isn’t a point out of providing therapy to Ukrainian troopers.
