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Injured child from Syria delivered to Moscow with assistance from Investigative Committee of Russia and other relevant authorities

The Coordinating Council of the Investigative Committee of Russia for providing help to children affected by humanitarian disasters, natural disasters, terrorist acts, and military conflicts operates in the structure of the Investigative Committee of Russia. Leonid Roshal, the President of the Emergency Children’s Surgery and Traumatology Research Institute, is one of the honoured members of the Council. This Council organizes visits within and out of the country for consultative and practical assistance to children.

In early December 2018, upon instruction of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, his senior assistant Igor Komissarov and Director of the Emergency Children’s Surgery and Traumatology Research Institute Valery Mitish visited the Syrian Arab Republic to provide consultative and surgical care to children affected by military actions, and to conduct necessary meetings for possible assistance in creation of a centre for treatment of seriously injured children in the Damascus hospital where Russian doctors will also work, if necessary.

During a medical examination of children affected by military actions in the Syrian Arab Republic, consultative medical assistance was provided to two brothers. One of them, a ten-year-old boy, received a mine blast trauma as a result of a mortar shell explosion; he had already lost one leg and was treated in a hospital for serious injuries of the tibia of his other leg. He had received the injury two months before and, unfortunately, due to medical complications his other leg could also have been amputated. His brother who had less serious injuries and was also receiving treatment in this hospital was provided with relevant consultations on his further treatment. Their third brother died of explosion.

During the visit to the hospital, the mother of the children asked the senior assistant of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia to arrange medical treatment of the seriously injured boy in Russia. Following the visit, the authorities decided to deliver the 10-year-old seriously injured boy to Moscow for a complex surgical treatment in order to retain his only leg; the head of the Syrian hospital showed sincere interest in that.

This evening, thanks to well-coordinated joint actions, a plane with the injured child landed in one of the Moscow airports and the boy was immediately delivered to the Emergency Children’s Surgery and Traumatology Research Institute where he will be treated.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation expresses its gratitude to the Children’s Rights Commissioner for the Russian President, the Ministry of Health of Russia, and the Russian foreign institutions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in the Syrian Arab Republic for participation in resolving of the above-mentioned issues.