Russian Federation Faces Acute Shortage of Medications due to Sanctions

According to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the military of the Russian armed forces are actively discussing the order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation obliging all regions of the occupying power to create an intact stock of medications for four months. According to the Directorate, such an order could have appeared because of several reasons:

• Impact of international sanctions on the economy. As a result, the pharmaceutical industry is simply unable to ensure the production of sufficient quantities of the necessary medications. As the military themselves note, the Russian Federation currently does not produce modern medicines at all. Instead, import packaging lines have been established.
• Real threat of a complete suspension of medicines supplies from abroad; the increase in the intensity of hostilities causes a corresponding increase in the sanitary losses of the occupiers.

In private conversations, Russian surgeons admit that the stocks of medicines have been severely depleted and this is already affecting the conduct of surgeries and the industry as a whole. The medicines are not restocked. The existing deficit triggers a significant rise in medication prices.

The approved calendar schedules for planned surgeries must be fundamentally revised. Due to the acute shortage of necessary medicines, they are postponed indefinitely. Assistance will be provided only to those patients who need urgent surgical intervention.

Natalia Tolub