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Three missions are initiated and organized by the Charitable Foundation “Christian Medical Association of Ukraine” under the Mobile Care project, in partnership with the North America Taiwanese Medical Association, Luke Christian Medical Mission, and MacKay Memorial Hospital.

The Taiwanese medical missions in Ukraine represent a collaboration with the international medical community and a response to the challenges faced by Ukraine’s healthcare system amid the full-scale war.

Schedule of planned events:

August 27-28: Mobile medical clinic in Korosten (Zhytomyr oblast);

August 29-30: Mobile medical clinic in Kyiv for families of fallen heroes, veterans, and Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers;

August 27-29: A team of Taiwanese doctors will conduct consultations and participate in surgical interventions at the National Cancer Institute in Kyiv.

The missions will also visit Lviv, Rivne, and Vinnytsia. Additionally, Ukrainian medical professionals will have the opportunity to attend a certified ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support) course by the American Heart Association (AHA) free of charge.

Background: The Mobile Care project, initiated by the Charitable Foundation “Christian Medical Association of Ukraine”, operates in frontline and de-occupied regions of Ukraine. In 2024, the project has provided medical assistance to 4,022 patients in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Zhytomyr, and Odesa oblasts.

• doctors

Before russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, Andrii was a pediatrician and headed the health department in Kharkiv region’s Zlatopil District State Administration. When he mobilized into the Defense Forces of Ukraine in 2023, he joined the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. 

Today, Andrii goes by the call sign “Baz” and serves at a Battalion Aid Station, assisting surgeons on the front lines. Although his medical practice once focused only on children, he says his experience in the military revealed a striking similarity. “The soldiers are just like kids,” he remarked, “only with beards.”

Andrii can be reached for interviews both online and in person, with prior coordination through the brigade’s press officer.

• doctors
• military

French benefactors have donated a dental ambulance to the FRIDA Ukraine medical volunteer mission for use in frontline areas. The vehicle will serve as a unique mobile clinic to provide free care to civilians, particularly children, in Ukraine’s frontline regions and in orphanages. This will enable FRIDA Ukraine doctors to reach the most remote communities where medical infrastructure is either non-existent or has been destroyed by the war.

The first mission will take place on August 21-22 in the Chernihiv oblast. For two days, the team of FRIDA Ukraine dentists will provide free dental treatment to residents of frontline areas.

French benefactors will join the medical team on this mission.

Journalists can learn more about this initiative and cover the medical mission.

• doctors
• volunteers
• Chernihiv

Olena Budz, known by her call sign “Kytsia” (Kitty), is a Kyiv native who once worked as head of SMM at a film studio, leading major advertising campaigns and promoting Ukrainian cinema.

On the day a russian missile struck the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital, Olena was at work, far from the blast site, but the sense of helplessness was overwhelming. It was then that she decided to complete medical training and join the volunteer medical battalion.

Since then, she has served in every evacuation role – from casevac and medevac to working at a stabilization point and on the “Avstriyka” evacuation bus. Her deployments have taken her to the Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, and Donetsk sectors.

Olena has also returned to photography, a longtime passion. During rotations, she captures portraits of crews, soldiers, the wounded, and medical personnel, using her images to tell their stories.

• doctors
• women

In August and September, the Hospitallers Medical Battalion will hold a series of training courses on pre-medical care and tactical medicine for civilians and volunteer medics. The courses include: Basic Life Support, Bleeding Control, First Aid for Trauma, Combat Lifesaver (CLS) Training, Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC CMC) Training. The courses will take place in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Dnipropetrovsk oblast.

Journalists can cover the training sessions by prior agreement.

Background: The Hospitallers Medical Battalion has been operating on the front lines since 2014. Their crews conduct dozens of evacuations daily along nearly the entire frontline.

The battalion has been providing tactical medicine training since 2015 and pre-medical aid courses since 2018. Their instructors are certified by NAEMT (National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, USA), UMMA (Ukrainian Military Medical Academy), and other recognized organizations.

• doctors
• Dnipro
• Kyiv
• Lviv

Viktoriia Didovets, a charge nurse in the Intensive and Efferent Therapy Department for Acute Intoxication at the National Children’s Hospital Okhmatdyt, was injured during a missile strike on the hospital on July 8, 2024. As the attack unfolded, she was evacuating children on dialysis to a shelter when a missile struck the building.

By the time Viktoriia was rushed to the operating room, her pulse was barely detectable. She was diagnosed with a fractured pelvis, an open hip fracture, a ruptured liver, and injuries to her face and ear. For more than eight months, she has been undergoing treatment, determined to regain a full life.

By prior arrangement, Viktoriia is available for interviews in Kyiv or online.

Background: On July 8, 2024, a russian Kh-101 cruise missile struck Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital. At the time of the attack, 627 children were inside. The strike killed two people – a doctor and a patient’s relative – while injuring 35 others, including nine children. On July 10, a boy who had been in critical condition in intensive care at the time of the attack succumbed to his injuries in a Kyiv hospital.

• doctors
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

Kristina Avramenko was born and raised in Novotroitske, a village in the Kherson region. After finishing secondary school, she moved to Dnipro to continue her education before returning to Kherson to begin her medical internship. It was there, in Kherson, that she encountered the full-scale invasion.

In April 2022, Kristina managed to escape occupation and start anew in Brovary in Kyiv Oblast. There, she completed her internship and began practicing medicine. 

She says she’s not afraid to travel to frontline areas, joining other medical volunteers from the Frida Ukraine mission who operate mobile outpatient clinics and provide free medical care to civilians.

Kristina Avramenko is available for interviews both online and in person by prior arrangement.

• doctors
• women

The third international ophthalmic surgery mission, Vision for Ukraine, organized by the Christian Medical Association of Ukraine, is underway in Kyiv and Lviv. Three surgeons from the United States arrived in Ukraine to collaborate with local specialists on complex clinical cases.

Among the mission’s patients are military personnel who have lost sight in one or both eyes and part of their faces due to mine and explosive injuries. Organizers describe these free surgeries as unprecedented because surgeons use an innovative approach involving 3D implants to reconstruct eye orbits, jaws, and skulls.

Background: Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the Christian Medical Association of Ukraine team has conducted over ten international missions, providing free surgeries to more than 850 patients.

Arrangements can be made to speak with surgeons and patients in person in Lviv until June 20.

• casualties
• doctors
• military
• Lviv

Before the full-scale invasion, Svitlana worked as an intensive care nurse at Mechnikov Hospital in Dnipro. In the early days of the war, she joined the Ukrainian military as a combat medic.

In May 2024, her unit was stationed at a stronghold in Donetsk oblast when russian forces surrounded their position. While her comrades held the line, Svitlana grabbed a grenade launcher and maneuvered toward the enemy. She flanked the building where the russians were stationed and fired, eliminating the entire hostile group in one strike.

Her actions allowed Ukrainian forces to conduct a rotation and evacuate personnel from the besieged positions. For her bravery, Svitlana was awarded the Cross of the Land Forces.

Journalists can interview Svitlana online or in person in Zaporizhia, by prior coordination with her press officer.

• doctors
• military
• women
• Zaporizhzhia

Journalists are invited to attend the presentation of a new initiative focused on providing essential healthcare services to women veterans, a group often overlooked in military medical infrastructure. The event will take place on June 13 in Poltava.

Launched by the VETERANKA Movement in partnership with the Kvitna Charitable Foundation, the project addresses a critical gap: the absence of specialists such as gynecologists and mammologists within military units. As part of the initiative, women veterans will receive free comprehensive medical screenings, including ultrasound and gynecological exams, along with consultations from qualified doctors.

The event will feature remarks from organizers, medical staff from the mobile health unit, and Poltava’s acting mayor Kateryna Yamshchykova, herself a veteran. Journalists will have the opportunity to speak with project participants and hear firsthand accounts from the women involved.

Originally launched in the Kyiv region, the initiative has already served more than 1,000 women defenders across Ukraine.

Event registration is required to attend.

• doctors
• women
• Poltava