Themes by tag: evacuation

The Hospitails project is a team of veterinarians and volunteers who have come together to help and evacuate animals in the frontline areas.

A year ago, when the occupiers blew up the Kakhovka dam, the team set out to rescue four-legged friends from the disaster zone, which marked the day when the initiative started working systematically. Hospitals equipped a full-fledged mobile operating room, which allows treating and vaccinating animals as well as performing surgeries in field conditions.

Within the year of operation, the team evacuated and found homes for about 200 animals. During their trips, 243 animals were vaccinated and treated. 168 “tails” were operated on and sterilized. They also distributed 10 tons of humanitarian aid.

For reference: The Hospitails project is a joint initiative of the Hospitallers medical volunteer battalion and Hvostati Charitable Foundation, which helps and finds homes for animals.

• animals
• casualties
• volunteers
• evacuation

Dmytro Mazurov joined the ranks of the National Police in 2018. Currently, the policeman serves in the “White Angels” group, which evacuates people from hot spots on the frontline. Dmytro mostly works in six settlements near the front line: Torske, Zarichne, Yampolivka, Terny, Kolodiazi, and Ivanivka.

When most of these villages and towns were occupied in April 2022, and there was one kilometer of land between the enemy and Zarichne, more than fifty people gathered in one spot waiting for evacuation. It took Dmitry 8 trips to take everyone to a safe place. Then he learned that two more women managed to get out of occupied Torske (Dmytro’s native village), and they were on their way to Zarichne. The policeman went to pick them up and evacuated the women under artillery fire.

Dmytro returned to service immediately after the liberation of the district in 2022. The “White Angels” deliver necessities including food and medicine to the de-occupied villages and towns. Also, the police work together with the rescuers, dismantle the rubble after enemy strikes, rescue the wounded and dead, and take care of those who refuse to leave. According to Dmytro, over the past year, the “White Angels” managed to evacuate all the children who lived near the line of fire in the policeman’s area of responsibility. He saved a total of 32 children.

For reference: Dmytro Mazurov is in the Donetsk sector. The policeman is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• evacuation

Before the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, Maksym Shevchenko worked in car repairs. On February 24, 2022, he was in Irpin. Despite the shelling, he evacuated residents from Bucha, Vorzel, the outskirts of Hostomel and Irpin. Later, the situation got more complicated and hostilities intensified, so he could only evacuate Irpin residents. (He took them to the Romanivka Bridge, which sustained so much damage to the structure that people could only cross it on foot).

Maksym evacuated people with reduced mobility, the elderly and the wounded. Sometimes he had to carry people on his shoulders. During the evacuations, the volunteer saw corpses of the residents who died due to russian shelling. And the volunteer himself came under enemy fire several times.

Maksym filmed what was happening around him on his phone. On March 21, 2022, his own house was destroyed by an enemy strike. Before that, one of his cars had been damaged by an enemy shell. In order to take people out, he had to use the cars of his relatives, friends and ordinary residents.

Maksym continues to volunteer even now. He delivers humanitarian aid to the frontline regions.

Journalists have the opportunity to learn more and communicate with the volunteer in Kyiv region (either in person or online).

For reference: on April 2, 2022, Kyiv region was completely liberated from russian occupation. By April 6, 2022, the Defense Forces fully liberated Chernihiv region. On April 11, 2022, the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced that full control over the state border in Sumy region was restored.

• casualties
• occupation
• volunteers
• Kyiv
• evacuation

Oleksii Yukov leads the search squad for the “Platsdarm” Association of Military and Historical Heritage Researchers. Since 2014, Yukov and his team have been dedicated to locating and recovering the remains of fallen Ukrainians, whether they be military personnel or civilians. Yukov’s commitment to this mission is unwavering, as evidenced by his near-death encounter with occupiers in 2014 while carrying out his duties.

Operating amidst gunfire and facing the danger of the enemy frequently booby-traping the corpses of fallen, Yukov and his team encounter grim scenes, often discovering bodies that have been subjected to torture or mangled by passing vehicles and enemy tanks. 

Notably, the team undertook a search for bodies underneath rubble at the Kramatorsk tragedy site, where a Russian Tochka-U missile struck the city’s railway station on April 8, 2022. This devastating attack claimed the lives of 61 individuals and left 121 others injured.

Currently, the search team remains active in the eastern region of the country.

For reference: As February 24, 2024, marks the grim two-year anniversary of Russia’s criminal incursion into Ukraine. It stands as the apex of a decade-long war of aggression, which actually dates back to February 20, 2014, beginning with the annexation of Crimea. Russian forces invaded Ukrainian Crimea without any identifying markings and, after that, seized control of the peninsula back then. Subsequently, these events escalated into war in eastern Ukraine.

• dead
• military
• volunteers
• evacuation

Since February 24, 2022, the White Angels police team has managed to rescue and bring more than 9,000 people from the frontline areas to safety. Law enforcement crews go to the most remote corners that are out of reach for volunteer missions, evacuating those who are ready to leave for a safe zone, and delivering humanitarian aid to those who won’t flee the areas. White Angels employs 81 policemen, particularly in the Kherson, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Luhansk regions. The officers are truly selfless when it comes to saving people despite risking their own lives. Getting out civilians from Avdiivka in Donetsk region, a site of fierce fighting, is among the most recent operations of the White Angels. 

For reference: the White Angels crew in the Donetsk region is willing to give both online and offline interviews, by prior arrangement with the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Donetsk Oblast.

• casualties
• evacuation

A 54-year-old Yevhen Tkachov has been evacuating people from the frontline cities and towns of Donetsk Oblast for more than 9 years. In particular, after February 24, 2022, Yevhen traveled to Bakhmut, Siversk, and Soledar. The man also delivers humanitarian aid to people in hot spots. He also takes care of animals, as he is a veterinary specialist. 

A few years before the full-blown war, he founded a hospice for older adults in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region. This hospice care was destroyed by the invaders at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Patients had to be placed in the Khmelnytskyi region. The hospice for the elderly seniors is supported by Yevhen’s family, including his son.

• animals
• casualties
• volunteers
• evacuation

Volunteers of the Save Ukraine charitable foundation evacuate people from areas near the front line. Since early November this year, more than 105 thousand Ukrainians have been provided with help. Most of them are families with children.

By prior arrangement, journalists are welcome to talk to families rescued from frontlines. 

As a reminder, volunteers of the Save Ukraine charitable foundation also organize rescue missions to return Ukrainian children illicitly transferred to Russia and Russian-controlled territories. The first mission took place a year ago, on November 8, 2022. In total, as of November 2023, the charity workers have brought 200 children back.

• casualties
• children
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• evacuation

Since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion into Ukraine, Fight For Right NGO has gone on more than 1,500 evacuation trips (including medical evacuations by ambulances). They transported people with disabilities and their family members away from hostilities.

Evacuation is carried out mostly from areas near the front line. One of the biggest difficulties is that sometimes it is very hard for people to find courage to leave their homes, even when it is dangerous to stay there.

The organization also provides psychological assistance, particularly, individual consultations for people with disabilities and for mothers of children with disabilities.

In addition, psychological support groups for IDP women with disabilities are currently operating in Dnipro. The organization plans to create such groups in other cities as well. First of all, in Kyiv.

By prior agreement, journalists are welcome to cover the evacuation process or the work of the organization on psychological support for people.  

• casualties
• psychological support
• evacuation

In Kharkiv region, the Kharlamov family (mother Halyna, father Serhii, and son Yevhen) were evacuating people from under shelling since the beginning of the full-scale war. They became the founders of “Volunteer-68 Humanitarian Aid Center” NGO.

In particular, the volunteer family helped evacuate people across the Pechenihy dam in 2022, when part of Kharkiv region was still under occupation. Halyna recalls that it took people 5-6 hours to get to this dam alone, getting through more than 20 enemy checkpoints. Women with children, elderly people were completely exhausted. Almost every woman cried after reaching a safe place. And after the liberation of the region, “Volunteer-68” team drove into populated areas in ambulances and picked up people with limited mobility as well as everyone else who wanted to evacuate.

Recently, “Volunteer-68 Humanitarian Aid Center” NGO and Vostok-SOS Charitable Foundation initiated the opening of a temporary shelter in Kharkiv for low-mobility population groups and people with disabilities who are being evacuated from front-line communities.

For reference: on September 6, 2022, Ukrainian troops launched a major counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. Subsequently, Kharkiv region was completely de-occupied.

• casualties
• occupation
• volunteers
• Kharkiv
• evacuation

Volunteers of the Rapid Response Units are among the first to arrive at the scene of emergencies. They evacuate people with limited mobility from under fire and provide humanitarian aid to those remaining in the hot spots. The meeting on August 18 will bring together 90 volunteers from emergency response teams from across the country. In addition, to experience exchange, the meeting will include mine safety training programs conducted by the State Emergency Service and chemical, biological, radiation, and nuclear threats from international partners. Volunteers will also practice one of the emergency scenarios.

Kyiv to venue transfer is organized for journalists.

For reference: Since the beginning of the all-out invasion, rapid response volunteer units have evacuated more than 309 thousand people from the war zone.

• casualties
• volunteers
• evacuation