Several dozen Lithuanians have joined the fight in Ukraine; some were later wounded. But when they returned home, they had to pay for their treatment and rehabilitation. According to a well-informed source in Kyiv, there are no signs that Vilnius officials are trying to help Lithuanians serving in Ukraine.
“Ukraine gives you documents in the Ukrainian language, detailing your injuries and what help was provided. But no one cares about the papers in Lithuania,” said Mantas (name changed), a Lithuanian volunteer who was wounded in Ukraine. As he had no health insurance at home, his family had to foot his treatment bill of around 900 euros.
When volunteers like him arrive in Ukraine, they sign a contract with Ukraine’s military. When they return home, however, they are no longer considered legal residents of Lithuania. This is where seeking more than basic treatment becomes a problem.
Read more: Inside Lithuanian Legion in Ukraine: ‘We are invisible’
“I did not pay for the health insurance at that time, because you pay taxes in Ukraine, so you are not entitled to anything in Lithuania,” Mantas said.
Lithuania has been offering treatment to Ukrainian troops since the war broke out in Donbas in 2014. Additional rehabilitation programmes have been provided by different Lithuanian organisations.
But none of these programmes apply exclusively to Lithuanian citizens injured in Ukraine.
In response to questions, the office of Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas referred LRT.lt to the Defence Ministry. In a written comment, the ministry said “the right to treatment in Lithuania is ensured for every Lithuanian citizen”.
According to the ministry, Lithuanian citizens who sign a contract with the Ukrainian Armed Forces are offered “all social guarantees, including pay and medical support (treatment and rehabilitation)”.
Kyiv may also offer rehabilitation abroad to its servicemen, including foreign citizens, the ministry added. Ukraine then contacts foreign partners via its embassies, submitting a list of people in need of treatment.
“In this way, [Ukraine] should inform about injured Lithuanian citizens, because they are not delegated by the [Lithuanian] state or the Defence Ministry, they are also not part of an international mission or operation,” the Lithuanian Defence Ministry said.
Since the February 24 invasion, over 120 Ukrainian troops were treated in Lithuania as part of the joint medical coordination centre, made up of 18 EU countries, the ministry said.
“Therefore, a possibility exists that Lithuanian citizens could also be treated in other EU countries,” it added.
However, several Lithuanian volunteers said access to treatment and rehabilitation, including abroad, comes down to personal connections and bribery, reflecting the rampant corruption across Ukraine.
“If you are sent abroad, then you got lucky. Some manage to do it through connections. Thousands are injured, but only a few get to go,” said Mantas.
Although help is accessible in Ukraine, its quality “is an entirely different topic”, said Rimas Armaitis, a Lithuanian volunteer in Ukraine.
With Russian strikes against civilian infrastructure and subsequent energy cuts, Ukraine has been forced to limit access to healthcare, focusing only on urgent cases.
But treating war-time injuries is lengthy and costly. A head trauma, such as contusion, may require months of drips, massages, consultations, and therapy. Other injuries, like shrapnel and bullet wounds, require months of intensive treatment.
While two injured Lithuanian volunteers said they received all the help they needed in Ukraine, at least one said they preferred not to burden the local healthcare system, leaving more resources for Ukraine to treat its own citizens.
Another Lithuanian volunteer, meanwhile, said he received private treatment in Ukraine which was funded by donations.
“It would be good that at least the rehabilitation took place in Lithuania, it's still your home,” added Armaitis.
Thus, the issue is largely political: the Lithuanian government could decide to provide treatment and rehabilitation to its citizens injured in Ukraine, irrespectively of their insurance status.
However, according to well-informed sources in Kyiv, there are “no positive signals” that officials in Vilnius would be interested in Lithuanian volunteers fighting for Ukraine.
So far, all contacts with politicians and institutions have been informal.
“There is an agreement with Santaros Clinics [in Vilnius] that they would accept [volunteer fighters] without queues, including for rehabilitation, if needed” the source said, but “no one is officially coordinating the help”.
Read more: ‘We didn’t fire our guns once’ – interview with injured Lithuanian fighter in Ukraine
Providing state-level support to the Lithuanian volunteers may be delicate. Funding, arming, and treating combatants could be perceived as the country entering the war.
For now, donations from people in Lithuania helped fill some of the gaps.
“It's becoming trendy to support us,” said Armaitis. “I wouldn't say the support is really big, but it has really been felt. We have started feeling here as if we are no longer alone, starting to sense that we have backing.”
The chief of defence, Valdemaras Rupšys, also acknowledged that Lithuanians were fighting in Ukraine, saying he would “respectfully lift his hat in front of them”, much to the delight of the volunteers.
“[But] besides being mentioned by the chief of the military and then accepted by the embassy, nothing else has really happened,” said Armaitis.
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