Bucking the Economic Collapse, Sales of Prosthetic Limbs in Russia Continue to Break Records
While most sectors of Russia’s economy have stalled or fallen out a window, one industry is charging ahead like a tank with no reverse gear: prosthetics.
According to Russia’s Ministry of Labor, 152,500 artificial limbs were distributed in 2024 — a 53% increase over 2023.
War may be hell, but it’s been incredible for Russia’s artificial limb economy. Sales of prosthetic arms are up 75%. Legs, a respectable 51%. Wheelchairs too, just to round things out. It’s the kind of growth Silicon Valley startups dream about — though most of them don’t measure success by how many customers arrive on stretchers.
According to prosthetics industry reps — who now speak like Wall Street analysts — the demand is driven almost entirely by war injuries. Not “injuries” like scraped knees, but injuries like “we found his foot near Zaporizhzhia.”
Russian-made prosthetics for wounded soldiers are reportedly so poorly designed that they often cause more harm, leading to serious injuries like bleeding stumps and infections.
According to investigations, some Russian servicemen have had to resort to makeshift solutions like wrapping their limbs in rags due to the unbearable pain caused by the government-issued prosthetics.
In stark contrast, prosthetics manufactured in China are seen as significantly better in both comfort and functionality than Russian ones. This has prompted the head of a state organization responsible for veteran rehabilitation to actively negotiate with China in order to secure higher-quality prosthetic limbs for Russian soldiers.
The move highlights a growing recognition within Russia that their domestic medical technology is failing the very people it’s meant to support.
One Russian official told The New York Times that half of all wounded troops require amputations. With over 376,000 wounded to date, that puts the limb-loss economy at around 180,000 strong. Forget veterans. Russia’s creating an entire post-war demographic: the involuntarily disassembled.
And the ROI? Well, in exchange for turning hundreds of thousands of conscripts into spare parts, the Russian military gained around 4,700 square kilometers in 2024 — basically the equivalent of a small British county. At a cost of 84 casualties per square kilometer, you could pave the ground with medals and still run out before you hit the Dnipro.
But the Kremlin isn’t slowing down. The 2024 budget allocated 87.2 billion rubles ($110 million) for rehab equipment — a number they roll out with pride, like a sign of compassion, not proof that the war machine is eating its own tail.
Official propaganda spins it as resilience. But the numbers tell a different story: Russia is grinding through its population to manufacture headlines. And the only thing that really works? The prosthetics.
