Where the Golden Fish Will Rot From: How Major General Anatolii Kazmirchuk and Larysa Usachenko-Rodchenko Turned Military Psychiatry into a Family Business
Golden Fish – that’s how Larysa Rodchenko was affectionately and at the same time ironically called in the corridors of the Verkhovna Rada when she headed the Department of Fisheries and Water Resources. After a rapid political career, a depressive “vacation” and many years of silence, she emerges again. But now she is in uniform. And not just in uniform, but with the rank of major of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to which she was promoted in less than three years.
Under the guise of humanitarian aid, against the backdrop of war and a confused army system, Usachenko-Rodchenko built a real vertical of influence in the heart of military psychiatry — in the National Military Medical Clinical Centre “Main Military Clinical Hospital”. All this happened with the tacit consent or active participation of key figures in the medical command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The most notable among the command is Major General of the Medical Service Anatolii Kazmirchuk, the current head of the military medical service of Ukraine. It was during his leadership and the “rapid reform” of the medical vertical that people like Usachenko-Rodchenko received the green light: ranks, injuries, awards — everything was processed in a flash.
General of the Medical Service Anatolii Kazmirchuk
At the same time, through her hands — probably with the knowledge or tacit consent of the management — the clinic was filled with relatives: husband, brother, son-in-law, nephew, even a daughter-in-law with a purchased diploma. All are military personnel, all have war veteran certificates, some have disability status and corresponding benefits. All this is under the “roof” of a psychiatric department.
And this is not just a story about personnel abuses — it is evidence of how the military system in wartime has turned into a closed corporation, where “ours” are allowed everything, and “outsiders” are only allowed to die on the front lines.
The Golden Fish Came Up: How a Nurse Turned into a Major in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and What Does a Plastic Surgery of the Abdomen Have to Do with It?
A rapid promotion in Armed Forces of Ukraine. From an ordinary nurse in a psychiatric clinic to… a major. In three years. Without combat experience, without specialized education, but with big patrons and even bigger schemes.
In the video https://youtu.be/XoaUO1bYgYg , we already mentioned how this person, having the status of a professor and advisor to President Yushchenko, put on a sanitary gown without any remorse. What was the entry point into military psychiatry? Bohdan Plish is now dead under strange circumstances – he fell, hit his head, and his heart could not make it. But there are other versions among the military: he might have known too much.
Then everything went on like in a Netflix script. Rapid military career: soldier → lieutenant → captain → major. And all that in 36 months. Even with a stomach wound. Only the injury turned out to be… the plastic surgery of the abdomen. Liposuction in Cherkasy – there were scars left after the operation, and she presented them as evidence of being wounded. In April of this year, the state believed and paid UAH 700,000 as compensation “for heroism”.
While some are defending the country at the frontlines in a direct contact with the enemy, this “nurse professor” was building a family dynasty in the psychiatric department of the National Military Medical Clinical Centre “Main Military Clinical Hospital”. Husband, brother, son-in-law, nephew, even daughter-in-law — all in uniform, all with war veteran certificates, all with documents about participation in hostilities. Even if one of them was on maternity leave in the time of participating in hostilities.
300 Mobilized Medics Became Officers: Who is Behind the Rapid Careers in the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine?
Commander of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Anatolii Kazmirchuk reported that about 300 mobilized medics received officer ranks. According to the official version, this is due to the Army’s urgent need for qualified specialists. However, according to sources in the security forces, all of these “officers” did not have the necessary experience and education, and some of the promotions could have been the result of backroom deals.
Larysa Rodchenko
The name of Larysa Rodchenko is mentioned in several internal correspondences that our editorial team managed to get hold of. She is mentioned as an intermediary in making decisions regarding the career growth of some individuals. According to a source in the Ministry of Defence, “Rodchenko had influence on personnel decisions in individual medical units, in particular through informal connections with representatives of the command.”
It is currently unclear whether this is real abuse. No official investigations have been initiated, but anti-corruption activists are already demanding an investigation of those promotions. “If people without proper training receive officer ranks, this is a threat not only to combat effectiveness, but also to the lives of wounded soldiers”, says a representative of one of the specialized NGOs.
Vertical of Silence: Kazmirchuk, Members of the Military and Medical Commission and the “Family Clinic”
At the same time, the main leader of this “group”, paradoxically, is the head of the entire medical service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — Major General Anatolii Petrovych Kazmirchuk. It was under his leadership that a massive personnel renewal in the psychiatric service began, under the guise of “optimisation.” After that, key positions were occupied by either loyal or silent people — and the system became an ideal environment for abuse.
The fact that Usachenko-Rodchenko received the rank of lieutenant, captain, and later major within two years of her arrival at the clinic did not raise any questions among personnel officers or the Main Military and Medical Directorate. And the fact that she “was injured” that coincided with the marks from abdominoplasty passed by completely unnoticed.
Big Family Clinic and War Veteran Statuses for Pregnant
Rodchenko Methodically Places Her Relatives in the Hospital:
- Husband — received a war veteran status, the disability group, and cash benefits only in 3 months of service.
- Brother — employed at a clinic and released from the military service due to illness.
- Son-in-law and nephew — transferred to rear units in Transcarpathia.
- Daughter-in-law, having no proper education, — received the position of military psychologist, followed with the war veteran status, while… on maternity leave.
All this is in a structure that is formally accountable to the Ministry of Defence and personally to Major General Kazmirchuk.
Humanitarian Legend and the Double Life Shadow
Rodchenko actively used humanitarian aid as a legal pretext for entering the territory of a closed medical facility. Trucks that arrived under the guise of aiding a psychiatric clinic were later “redirected” to the front lines. But the documents show that part of the cargo would “dissolve” in the air, and the recipients could not confirm its receipt.
In addition, according to unconfirmed evidence, Rodchenko may have had a passport under a different surname and travelled to the occupied territory a few weeks before the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP. This gives rise to well-founded suspicions of double standards and possible involvement in other structures, not only Ukrainian ones.
Schemes Under the Guise of Awards
All of the above-mentioned individuals received state awards, titles, as well as the war veteran statuses. Rodchenko is a major, has medals for service, as well as UAH 700 thousand in payments. Could all these transformations have occurred without the knowledge of the medical command? Probably no. Is Major General Kazmirchuk responsible for the fact that personnel policy has turned psychiatry in the Armed Forces of Ukraine into a private family business? Absolutely yes.
This story is not about one “fish”, but about an entire system where corruption is disguised as military heroism.
Daughter-in-law Yana Velhan, by the way, is a psychologist without specialized education. With purchased diplomas, as she herself admitted, but with an officer’s rank. Who covered all this at the management level?
There is a lot of versions. It is significant that among her close connections are those involved in scandals and investigations: Military Commissioner Husarin, psychiatric authorities, heads of the Territorial Defence, as well as director of the Vorzel Centre Tetiana Ponomarenko. After searches and scandals, there was a silent disappearance from office. A coincidence?
Another interesting touch is the possibility of a second passport. The rumour is that “Madam Major” Rodchenko travelled abroad before the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP. The surname was different. What for?
Let us finish with the dates regarding Usachenko-Rodchenko:
– Lieutenant – February 2023
– Medical Service Captain — April 2024
– “injury” and war veteran status — April 2024
– Major – March 2025
Yana Velhan — daughter-in-law:
– Second Lieutenant – December 2024
– war veteran status — 2024 (in the course of maternity leave)
Chronology of events: The Golden Fish in Epaulettes
Date Event
* 2019 Leaves public activities after term of office in government structures.
* 2020 Unofficially travels abroad, probably under a different name.
* January 2022 Appears at the military hospital of the National Military Medical Clinical Centre “Main Military Clinical Hospital” as a junior nurse.
* February 2022 The beginning of a full-scale war – she is already inside the system.
February 2023 Promoted to lieutenant.
* April 2024 Promoted to medical service captain.
* 2024 Director of the psychiatric centre, Tetiana Ponomarenko, resigns from office after searches.
* May 2024 Claims to have abdominal injuries — actually scars from plastic surgery.
* March 2025 Promoted to major.
* April 2025 The state pays UAH 700,000 in compensation.
* During 2023–2025 Relatives employed in psychiatry as military personnel: husband, brother, son-in-law, nephew, daughter-in-law. Some receive war veteran status, others obtain disability statuses and corresponding benefits.
What is the conclusion? If the Golden Fish really came up, she clearly managed to do this not being on her own. This story involves big money, positions, ranks, privileges, and connections. And this is far from a fairy tale. It is rather a tutorial on surviving during a war. Not for a soldier. But for the “professor” …
To be continued…