Staff at a Ukrainian hospital faked a COVID-19 outbreak to avoid Russian takeover.

Staff at a Ukrainian hospital faked a COVID-19 outbreak to avoid Russian takeover.

Staff at a hospital in Kherson, Ukraine faked a COVID-19 outbreak to prevent the Russians from taking control of the facility during the invasion.

Dr. Leonid Remiga, 68, the chief physician at Tropinka Hospital in Kherson told the Wall Street Journal that shortly after the Russians invaded the city, soldiers showed up to take control of the facility to turn it into a military hospital. Remiga said he told the soldiers the hospital was dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak.


Remiga and hospital staff wore full protective gear and put COVID-19 warning signs up on the hospital walls.

“Our hospital couldn’t become a Russian hospital. All the employees felt this way,” Remiga told the WSJ. “I couldn’t leave them.”

Russian troops left the hospital because they thought there was an active COVID-19 outbreak. Remiga and his staff kept control of the hospital until the Russians announced they were retreating from Kherson on November 9, eight months after they took control of the city.