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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

The FRIDA Ukraine medical volunteer mission will deploy to the Mykolaiv oblast from November 22 to 23 and to the Kherson oblast from November 29 to 30.

Journalists will have the opportunity to cover the work of the medical volunteers on the ground and interview patients and doctors by prior arrangement.

Background: FRIDA Ukraine medical volunteer missions involve regular trips by a team of doctors to frontline and remote communities in Ukraine. Each mission comprises over 20 specialists in various fields, including neurologists, surgeons, gynecologists, therapists, and dermatologists. During these deployments, the team provides free medical appointments, consultations, and tests for local residents. Recently, the team has also begun conducting cancer screenings — early diagnostics for oncological diseases — to help detect illnesses at their initial stages.

• doctors

Before russia’s full-scale invasion, Maryna Sadykova worked in event management. But after February 24, 2022, her focus shifted entirely — she and her team began volunteering to support Ukrainian troops. The intense pace of that work soon took a toll. Struggling with burnout and anxiety, Sadykova sought peace in the Carpathian Mountains. That personal recovery experience inspired her to launch a mental health initiative for others facing the same strain.

Her organization, the Repower Charity Fund, now runs a psychological support program specifically for military medics and doctors who serve on the front lines. Based in Kyiv, the program offers a 10-day retreat in Sweden designed to help participants restore their emotional resilience and mental well-being.

Since 2022, Repower has organized 17 recovery programs, 16 abroad and one pilot retreat in Ukraine, reaching 1,244 combat medics who have since returned to duty. The foundation continues to expand its retreats and provide ongoing support for those who save lives under fire.

Media representatives and visitors can arrange to meet with Maryna Sadykova, her team, and program participants both online and in person in Kyiv by appointment.

• doctors
• psychological support
• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv