The pro-Russian blogger Anton Hura has spread a new scare story, claiming that by order of Uliana Suprun, all medical workers’ unions in Ukraine are planned to be eliminated by 2026. He based this conclusion on a photo of an announcement about the dissolution of one of the unions in a maternity hospital in Odesa. These claims have no basis in reality. However, this example illustrates how propagandists operate: they take a single local incident and present it as a nationwide or even global event.
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Information is being spread online, allegedly claiming that in 2020 Uliana Suprun tasked Maksym Stepanov with destroying all medical workers’ unions by 2026. The post also includes a supposed letter from a medical worker at one of the maternity hospitals in Odesa, stating that preparations are underway in the city to eliminate maternity hospitals by merging them with city clinical hospitals. Consequently, the maternity hospital will become a maternity ward within the hospital to which it is merged. The post also includes an announcement about the self-dissolution of the union organization at the mentioned maternity hospital (though no specific number was provided).
Screenshot of the post
What’s the reality?
Anton Hura is a Ukrainian blogger and pseudo-expert. Since 2012, he has worked as the commercial director at the medical company “Bio Test Med”, which supplies equipment and materials for medical laboratories. He has spoken out against medical reform on the pro-Russian YouTube channel Klymenko Time. He actively comments on medical topics and became known in March 2020 for spreading a fake video from a Milan-Kyiv flight, claiming there were passengers with coronavirus (which was not true). Since 2022, he has been spreading Russian propaganda narratives and, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, urged people not to resist the occupiers.
In April 2024, the Odesa City Council decided to reorganize maternity hospitals No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 7. They will be merged with hospitals No. 1, No. 10, and No. 11. Maternity hospitals in other regions have also been merged with city hospitals.
This is being done as part of the third phase of the medical reform to create a capable healthcare network. This reform aims to improve the quality of medical services. Combining facilities that do not meet standards, lack necessary equipment, or are unprofitable with other medical institutions will help create a capable healthcare network and increase funding for such hospitals.
Depending on the type of medical facility, the number of services will differ. Simple diseases will be treated by family doctors or general hospitals, which will be accessible to patients within a 60 km radius or 60 minutes by transport. More complex diseases will be treated in cluster and supra-cluster medical facilities equipped with the necessary high-tech equipment. We wrote more about the infrastructure phase of the medical reform in one of our previous issues.
Source: Ministry of Health of Ukraine
However, there is no order to eliminate all maternity hospitals in Odesa; medical institutions of this type continue to operate there. The photo of the announcement about the self-dissolution of the union is likely genuine. The union of Maternity Hospital No. 7 in Odesa is indeed in the process of ceasing its activities, as the decision to merge this medical institution was made by the city council. In contrast, the union of Maternity Hospital No. 4 continues to operate, and we could not find information about the existence of unions for Odesa Maternity Hospitals No. 1 and No. 2.
The decision to self-dissolve a union can only be made by its members and must be done collectively, except in cases where their activities violate the law. In such cases, the decision to liquidate is made by a court. Ukrainian legislation prohibits the forced dissolution, termination, or banning of union activities by any other bodies.
Unions are independent of government authorities, local governments, and employers and are not accountable to them. Therefore, the self-dissolution of the union of Maternity Hospital No. 7 in Odesa does not indicate that the authorities are planning to eliminate all health worker unions. Specifically, the Odesa Regional Organization of the Health Workers’ Union of Ukraine is active in Odesa. There are also medical unions in other regions, and they have not reported any pressure from the authorities.
Moreover, in 2020, Uliana Suprun was no longer the acting Minister of Health of Ukraine; she resigned in September 2019. Therefore, it is unlikely that she could have given any assignments to Maksym Stepanov, who assumed the position of Minister of Health of Ukraine in March 2020. Additionally, Suprun’s successor was Zoriana Skaletska, not Stepanov.
This information piece was produced with the assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), provided on behalf of the people of the United States of America. This article’s content, which does not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government, is the sole responsibility of Deloitte Consulting under contract #72012118C00001.
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