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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

Andrii Novosad is a physical therapist by profession, though he had never worked in the field. When the full-scale invasion began, he started volunteering by making Molotov cocktails and weaving camouflage nets for the military.

One day, a friend who worked at a rehabilitation center called Andrii to tell him about the shortage of specialists working with severely wounded soldiers. Without hesitation, Andrii began working as a physical therapist. While working, he saw a soldier who had lost both hands being fed by his wife. This inspired Andrii to start thinking about adaptive devices that could help the wounded eat independently.

He discussed the problem with his parents, who are engineers and manufacture rehabilitation equipment. Together, they developed a prototype of adaptive tableware and gave it to soldiers for testing. The design includes two types of special cuffs — one with a fork and one with a spoon. Soldiers can put on and take off these utensils without assistance.

Currently, Andrii and his family provide them free of charge to those with double amputations or anyone in need.

You can contact Andrii Novosad online or in person in Lviv by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• doctors
• military
• volunteers
• Lviv

This May and June, the Hospitallers medical battalion will conduct a series of tactical medicine courses for volunteer medics and civilians. The program features the NAEMT’s Tactical Combat Casualty Care – Combat Lifesaver (TCCC-CLS) course, along with trauma first aid, bleeding control, and simulation-based training. Courses will be held in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and throughout the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Journalists may attend and cover the sessions with prior approval.

For reference: Active on the front lines since 2014, the Hospitallers medical battalion carries out dozens of evacuations each day across nearly the entire combat zone. The team has been training others in tactical medicine since 2015 and in first aid since 2018. Instructors are certified by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy (UVMA), and other recognized institutions.

• doctors
• Dnipro
• Kyiv
• Lviv

On May 17–18, the FRIDA Ukraine medical mission will travel to one of the communities in the Sumy region, where the team is scheduled to work in two villages.

The mission includes more than 20 specialists, among them a nephrologist, dermatologist, ultrasound specialist, gynecologist, ophthalmologist, cardiologist, endocrinologist, vascular surgeon, neurologist, and psychologists.

Local residents will have access to consultations with these specialists, undergo medical examinations, receive professional recommendations, and obtain essential medications.

FRIDA Ukraine previously visited this community in February. The upcoming mission offers a chance to follow up on treatments, adjust prescribed medications if needed, and examine new patients.

Journalists are welcome to join the mission and cover the visit by prior arrangement.

For reference: FRIDA Ukraine is a volunteer medical mission uniting doctors from both Ukraine and abroad. The team travels to frontline and war-affected regions, setting up mobile outpatient clinics and providing free medical care to civilians. FRIDA Ukraine also supports children, including orphans; helps evacuate critically ill patients; and offers mental health services.

• doctors
• volunteers
• Sumy

Daniel, 35, arrived in Ukraine from Sweden and now serves with the Hospitallers medical volunteer battalion.

A seasoned traveler who has visited 50 countries, Daniel studied nursing at Malmö University and later worked as a private nurse in Sweden.

He first came to Ukraine in 2010 and returned in 2013, inspired by the video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and a desire to visit Chornobyl.

Last year marked his third visit to the country, this time to join the Hospitallers Medical Battalion. Daniel is currently learning Ukrainian and plans to enroll in an online Ukrainian language course this summer through Lund University in Sweden. He also has a girlfriend in Ukraine.

Now serving on the front line, Daniel is available for interviews, either in person or online, by prior arrangement and with the approval of the battalion’s press officer.

• doctors
• military