Themes by tag: doctors

Oleksandr Demchenko is a military anesthesiologist. In 2016, he volunteered for mobilization. After the start of the full-scale invasion, he became one of those who agreed to go to Azovstal, where Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol were holding the line under siege.

The team boarded a Mi-8 helicopter that flew at extremely low altitude. Later, they were transferred to a boat that successfully reached the surrounded metallurgical plant. Oleksandr recalls his work at Azovstal as a routine he managed to maintain despite extremely difficult conditions, a shortage of medicines, and constant shelling. He performed surgeries, dressings, and monitored the condition of the wounded.

In May 2022, Oleksandr and his fellow soldiers went into russian captivity. He was taken to a penal colony in Olenivka in the occupied Donetsk region, where he was held for three months. Oleksandr survived the attack carried out by russians in Olenivka, which killed more than fifty Ukrainian prisoners of war.

In September 2022, he was returned to Ukraine in a prisoner exchange. Almost immediately, Oleksandr resumed his duties and continues to serve.

Journalists can speak with Oleksandr online or offline in Kyiv by prior arrangement.

For reference: The defense of Mariupol lasted 86 days. By order of the command, Ukrainian defenders ceased resistance, left Azovstal, and surrendered into enemy captivity. On May 20, 2022, Mariupol fell under russian occupation.

• doctors
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

In civilian life, Kateryna Sokolenko worked as a nurse in the village of Fedorivka in the Bakhmut district of the Donetsk region. Long before the full-scale invasion, she became known for her vocal performances on the shows “X-Factor” and “Ukraine’s Got Talent.”

In 2016, she joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a senior nurse. Since then, Kateryna has been saving the lives of Ukrainian service members. She was already serving in the military when the full-scale invasion began. Currently, Kateryna holds the position of medical instructor in the 23rd Separate Mechanized Brigade.

She believes that military service is her true calling. At the same time, she has put her singing career on hold, although she occasionally performs for her fellow soldiers.

An interview with Kateryna can be arranged online or offline in Kyiv on February 20–21 by prior appointment and in coordination with the press officer.

• doctors
• military
• women

Doctors from the United States of America — volunteers of the FRIDA Ukraine medical mission and long-time friends of the organization — have arrived in Ukraine on a visit of solidarity and support.

Despite the war, the challenging security situation, and winter frosts, they have once again decided to dedicate their personal vacation time to helping Ukrainian doctors and patients.

This time the medical professionals have already visited Kyiv and are now in Kharkiv, where they will remain until February 5. They are visiting medical facilities, communicating with Ukrainian colleagues, sharing professional experience, and supporting local teams.

Among the volunteers is Elena Pal-Val, a pediatrician from the USA who has worked for many years at one of the country’s leading children’s hospitals. Elena has Ukrainian roots, and for her this trip is not only a professional mission but also a personal gesture of support for the country of her origin.

Accompanying her in Ukraine is her husband, Gregory Luke Larkin, an emergency medicine physician, medical university professor, researcher and instructor with many years of international experience. The couple are not participating in volunteer initiatives with FRIDA Ukraine for the first time, and each time they emphasize that it is important for them to be useful here and now.

FRIDA Ukraine invites journalists to interview American volunteer doctors.

Reference: The FRIDA Ukraine medical mission brings together Ukrainian and international doctors who provide free medical care, conduct consultations, screenings, and professional exchanges in various regions of Ukraine, including in frontline and border areas.

• doctors
• volunteers

Zoia Kovalets was in Vysokopillia, Kherson oblast, when the full-scale invasion began. When russian soldiers occupied her home, she started sharing information about enemy movements with the Ukrainian Armed Forces. She was betrayed to the occupiers by her neighbor. Zoia hid with her fellow villagers for two months, living in basements to avoid capture by the russians. She eventually managed to escape the occupation.

Once in Ukrainian-controlled territory, Zoia began working immediately as a nurse in a hospital and later joined the Ukrainian army. She currently serves as an operating room nurse in the 47th Mechanized Brigade “Magura”.

Zoia remembers everything she endured under occupation and seeks revenge against the enemy.

Zoia Kovalets is available for interviews online and in person by prior arrangement with the press officer.

• doctors
• military
• women

A cutting-edge training and production prosthetics workshop at Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, the biggest of its kind in Europe, has kicked off full-time operations. 

The prosthetics microclinic and training-production workshop emerged as a joint effort in Lviv, backed by the Ukrainian and French governments. “The French firms Resilience Orthopedics and Expertise France played a key role in bringing this to life. The project totaled €2.47 million,” said Nataliya Matolinets, vice-rector at Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University and a professor. 

Equipped with 20 3D printers, the workshop can churn out up to 600 prostheses each month. It opened its doors in the fall of 2025, with partners supplying a complete stock of materials for prosthesis manufacturing by year’s end. 

“Our workshop at the University Hospital in Lviv serves as the primary hub for producing prostheses. We’ve set up micro-clinics in Poltava, Vynnyky, and Kyiv to spare patients the long trip to Lviv for fittings – they can now get measured conveniently anywhere in Ukraine. We’ll be expanding the number of these micro-clinics down the line,” said Olena Shevchenko, head of the Rehabilitation and Prosthetics Clinic at the Lviv National Medical University Hospital. 

Patients get their prostheses at no cost. They visit a micro-clinic for a scan of their stump, after which the data is printed, yielding a ready socket in 18 to 20 hours. It’s then cleaned, polished, and prepped on-site for the patient. They start with a trial prosthesis; if it fits comfortably without issues, a permanent version follows the same process, complete with a carbon coating. Under the project, 16 Ukrainian specialists have received training to help patients recover swiftly and get back to everyday life. 

Journalists can arrange in advance to report on the prosthetics workshop’s operations and speak with experts in Lviv.

• doctors
• Lviv

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, 25-year-old Iryna Masna was a student at the Zhytomyr College of Culture and Arts. In 2021, she moved to Poland. When the war escalated in February 2022, she began volunteering at a support center for Ukrainian refugees there.

After returning to Ukraine, she enrolled at the Zhytomyr Medical Institute to train as a nurse.

In March 2024, Iryna Masna, operating under the call sign “Prymara” (Ukrainian for “ghost”), joined the 12th Special Forces Brigade “Azov.” Since October 2025, she has served with the 20th Liubart Operational Brigade of the 1st Azov Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. 

Her first truly intense experience came in the summer of 2024 in the Serebryanskyi Forest. While working alone at a casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) point, a group of combat engineers detonated a mine at the casualty transfer site, leaving several men badly wounded. “Prymara” and another medic divided the patients: he took the less severely injured, while she handled the more critical cases. Inside the moving evacuation vehicle, she struggled to insert catheters and control bleeding.

One soldier, his leg badly torn, insisted she first give pain relief to his comrade suffering from severe burns. She followed his request, and later second-guessed herself intensely. “I made a terrible mistake then,” she said. “I’m thankful both are alive, but I realized the man with the thigh wound needed urgent blood control, and I didn’t properly assess whether he was in shock.” The episode became a defining lesson; she has never again allowed herself to become rattled in high-pressure moments.

Across her service, Iryna has worked as a medic at triage points, a CASEVAC and MEDEVAC evacuation specialist, and a tactical medicine instructor for fellow troops.

Not every life she helps save results in a message of thanks. Not all the wounded track her down later through messengers or mutual contacts. Yet every note that does arrive serves as a quiet confirmation that she is exactly where she is meant to be.

Today, “Prymara” continues serving as both a frontline medic and an instructor. For her dedication to saving lives, Iryna Masna has been awarded the “For Saving Lives” medal.

Journalists interested in interviewing Iryna Masna can arrange online or in-person interviews through the brigade’s press service.

• doctors
• military
• women

Tetiana Romaniuk experienced the beginning of the full-scale invasion alongside the Rapid Response Teams of the Red Cross Society in Ukraine. Her volunteer skills proved invaluable when evacuating people with limited mobility from parts of the Kyiv oblast and from frontline areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

In August 2022, Tetiana joined the volunteer Hospitallers Medical Battalion. She went to the front lines with five years of experience working in emergency situations. For over three years now, Tetiana has been working under extreme conditions, often at great risk to her own life.

Tetiana recalls one particular evacuation: her crew was rescuing the same soldier for the second time. The Hospitallers vehicle came under fire but only the car was damaged.

During breaks between evacuation missions, Tetiana embroidered traditional towels to distract herself from her experiences. It is also a way to help preserve Ukrainian culture, which is being destroyed by russian forces.

Journalists can speak with Tetiana Romaniuk online or offline by prior arrangement.

• culture
• doctors
• volunteers
• women

Johan, a former Danish service member with experience in international missions, aviation, and medical work, first arrived in Ukraine five years ago and launched an ambulance initiative aimed at raising care standards and strengthening community response, a project put on hold when russia’s full-scale invasion broke out. He soon joined the Hospitallers medical battalion, where he continues to assist on the front line. 

A documentary following Johan’s work in Ukraine is set to premiere next spring on a Danish TV channel. 

Interviews with Johan in Kyiv are available by prior appointment. 

For reference: The Hospitallers’ medical battalion has been operating on the front lines since 2014. Its teams conduct dozens of evacuations each day across wide stretches of the battlefield. Since 2015, the organization has trained volunteers in tactical medicine and later expanded into pre-medical care courses in 2018. Its instructors hold certifications from the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy, and other recognized institutions.

• doctors
• Kyiv

Volodymyr Ryzhenko, a combat medic with the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov, was recognized as the best European medic of 2025 in the category of military medicine after performing a high-risk rescue operation in the field.

During the winter of 2025, in the Toretsk direction, an Azov shelter came under enemy fire. One soldier suffered a severe neck injury and life-threatening blood loss. To save precious time, the brigade’s medical service dispatched blood directly to the position via drone, pre-warmed for the transfusion, along with the instruments Ryzhenko needed.

The medic carried out the procedure inside an armored combat vehicle, which advanced toward the evacuation point despite the ongoing danger. Thanks to his swift action, the wounded soldier was successfully transported to a “stabilization point,” the medical posts closest to the front lines where wounded soldiers receive emergency first aid.

In August 2025, Ryzhenko received the award in the “Military Medicine” category at the Combat Medical Care Conference, Europe’s largest event of its kind, held in Germany.

Volodymyr Ryzhenko is available for interviews by prior arrangement with the press service, and journalists can also access video footage of the rescue operation.

• doctors
• military

From November 30 to December 3, the fourth international “Vision for Ukraine” oculoplastic mission will take place in Kyiv. A team of medical professionals will work to reconstruct the faces of defenders who have sustained severe trauma and lost an eye.

The international surgeons are preparing a series of advanced reconstructive procedures, including restoring the orbit and soft tissues, microvascular skin flap transplantation, and installing custom titanium implants created with a 3D printer. According to the mission organizers, one such implant can cost approximately $10,000, but the defenders will receive them free of charge.

The mission’s schedule includes consultations on November 30 and operating days from December 1 to 3, with approximately 30 surgeries and over 40 consultations planned. From December 4 to 5, the team will continue working in Lviv, providing care to children affected by the war.

Background: Over the past two years, “Vision for Ukraine” medics have provided assistance to more than 130 patients.

Interviews with medics and patients will be available online and in person in Kyiv and Lviv by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• doctors
• Kyiv
• Lviv