More than 44,000 people have received prosthetics under Ukraine's state program since Russia's full-scale war began, Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity Denys Uliutin told the ArmyInform. The state covers the full cost for everyone who applies, and current funding is sufficient, he said.
The figure is a partial measure of the war's toll. Euromaidan Press reported as early as 2023 that estimates of Ukrainians who had lost one or more limbs ran from 20,000 to 50,000 — a scale approaching World War I levels — and the number has grown since.
The 44,000 who are enrolled in the state program do not capture everyone. Some rely on charities or treatment abroad.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has adopted a roadmap to reform a system that suffered from a broken patient pathway, opaque pricing, quality concerns, and long waits, the minister said.
Funding, free prosthetics, and reform roadmap
The 2026 program for assistive rehabilitation devices and prosthetics is funded at nearly $190 million, of which just over $24 million is earmarked for high-functional prostheses, Uliutin said.
Everyone who applies receives prosthetics free of charge, with the state paying for devices made from both Ukrainian and foreign components.
An interagency working group, including ministries, market representatives, and prosthetics users, developed the reform roadmap by mapping problems along the patient's path from injury to recovery.
Bottleneck minister names: specialists, not money
Queues, Uliutin said, stem less from a lack of funds than from the need to expand the market and train more specialists.
Upper-limb prosthetics remain the hardest area, requiring more prosthetists and longer rehabilitation.
The state has simplified access to sports prosthetics, increased funding for children's prosthetics, and begun providing children with externally powered upper-limb devices. High-functional prosthetics are now also available to foreigners who fought against Russia's war.
World-leading capacity, built on grim necessity
"Ukraine does prosthetics incredibly well — foreigners already train here," Uliutin said, describing visitors who come to study Ukrainian techniques for rapid rehabilitation.
The expertise has been forced by scale: Ukraine's healthcare system handled only a few thousand amputations a year before 2022.
The state now compensates employers for adapting workplaces for people with disabilities and offers up to $1,200 toward adapting a vehicle.
Earlier reporting points to gaps the reform aims to close: Euromaidan Press reported in 2025 that Ukrainian civil society stepped in where the state lagged, with veterans calling disability support inadequate and social services struggling to keep pace.
