"I want to talk about the reform of the military medical commission, the collection of genomic information for the identification of deceased individuals, about modules, the issue of drugs at the front, the training conditions for military personnel in tactical medicine, the equipping of training centers, the workload on instructors, and the reintegration of those who have returned from captivity. [...] I want to understand who will take on this responsibility," said Sukhorukova.
According to the official, she hopes that her successor will continue her work, particularly by establishing training and preparation for doctors, as well as implementing changes in the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy.
"But not in a way that 'in 15 hours we will prepare a combat medic,' but rather so that these skills are practiced and become skills, not just knowledge. Because in a stressful situation, it is skills that work, the ones that have been automated," she emphasized.
In an interview with ZN, published on January 17, Sukhorukova explained that on January 1, the Department of Health received a directive changing the director's position from civilian to military, which is why she received a notice of termination in accordance with civil service law.
"Meanwhile, at the end of the year, we underwent evaluation. It was approved by the head of the state service of the Ministry of Defense. The performance of the staff was rated as excellent, mine as positive. And immediately after that, a directive comes in: 'In order to strengthen the direction of forming state policy on healthcare issues for military personnel […] we propose to change the position of the director of the health department from civilian to military with the staff position category of 'colonel,'" explained Sukhorukova.
She stated that in recent months, the Department of Health has been operating under conditions where it is "being targeted for destruction."
Along with the leader, the entire team is leaving, reported the Department of Health of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on Facebook on January 17. The department stated that they wrote a letter to Ukraine's Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov requesting the cancellation of the directive, as they believe such personnel changes are unreasonable and unsubstantiated.
"Replacing an effective department head will lead to further delays in military medicine reforms, which have hardly been implemented until 2024. In the event of Oksana Sukhorukova's dismissal, our team will not be able to effectively perform its duties, and therefore does not consider future participation in the department's work," the statement said.
Sukhorukova and the Department of Health of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine have received support from dozens of Ukrainian public and charitable organizations.
"As representatives of civil society, we understand well that the volume of unresolved issues is significantly greater, but we believe that today the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine's health department is doing everything possible to address the problems of military personnel. We note that the military medical system of Ukraine as of January 2025 is qualitatively improving compared to 2022," wrote veteran and co-founder of the charitable organization "Svoyi" Lesya Litvinova on Facebook.
In the letter to Umerov, published by "Ukrainska Pravda", there are 47 signatories, including military personnel such as the chief of the medical service of the 12th Special Purpose Brigade "Azov" of the National Guard of Ukraine Yevhen Chudnetsov, combat medic Yulia "Kuba" Sidorova, and junior lieutenant of the National Guard of Ukraine Oleksandra (Alaska) Lysytska.