“It’s insufferable. Everything hurts. It’s hard to breathe; it burns everywhere.” A 45-year-old man whispers these words, barely moving his lips, as he waits for medical evacuation from a frontline hospital in the Donetsk region. He was severely injured in shelling, suffering from burns to 90 per cent of his body, including his internal organs. […]
Read More… from Ukraine: MSF ambulances – In transit for survival
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) ambulances in Ukraine have transported more than 8,000 patients from hospitals near the frontline between January and July 2024, more than half with burn, blast and other injuries directly caused by the fighting. This represents a 30 per cent increase from the previous six months and shows the alarming […]
Natalia Kyshnir, 56, survived the siege of Mariupol but was forced to make the terrible choice of staying to look after her mother or leaving for safety with her son. She escaped to Vinnytsia but was left traumatised by her experiences. After receiving psychological support from Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams, she says […]
Read More… from Ukraine: “After seeing the psychologist, I felt like a new person”
Anastasia Nedieva has been working with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) since 2015 as a social worker in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, running mobile clinics in villages without doctors or pharmacies. In 2019, Anastasia moved to the city of Mariupol with her daughter and husband, but they were forced to flee their home after […]
Read More… from Ukraine: “Not being able to talk about trauma is itself a symptom of PTSD”
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) strongly condemns the missile attack on its office in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on April 5, at approximately 3:15 a.m. The building was destroyed completely and five people were injured, including MSF’s security staff. As a result, MSF has suspended its medical humanitarian activities in the Donetsk region temporarily, […]
Read More… from MSF condemns missile attack that destroyed its office in Donetsk region
At a hospital in Vinnytsia, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is running a project to rehabilitate patients injured by the war. Most of the patients have amputations and are unable to move far without additional assistance. Many of them stay in the hospital for months as they recover and undertake rehabilitation. When they are […]
Read More… from Ukraine: How MSF helps amputee patients regain the joy of life
Dr. Nataliia Pyvovar works on the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical train in Ukraine. The train evacuates patients from frontline areas to facilities in safer regions of the country. Another journey begins today. Nataliia feels confident and resilient because there was no shelling at night, so she managed to sleep. This is necessary […]
Read More… from A journey of resilience: Caring for patients inside a medical train
The war in Ukraine has created a huge need for psychological support ranging from psychological first aid to comprehensive psychological care. People have experienced fear, trauma and isolation and are showing symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress. MSF psychologists are responding to mental health needs of patients with psychological first aid, mental health counseling and […]
Read More… from Safeguarding the mind: protecting mental well-being amidst the war in Ukraine.
By Ivan M. García, MSF Spain Head of Media “Hey, try to bring back some positive stories, too!” is a mantra offered by colleagues each time one of us in the MSF communications team goes out to projects. It’s also a classic from journalists from time to time, specially at Christmas and in summer, when […]
Read More… from Ukraine: Positive stories in the middle of a war
To date, Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have only been allowed entry into regions controlled by Ukrainian forces, which means they have witnessed the destruction caused by the war in Ukrainian-held territory only. Despite MSF’s efforts to obtain permission to access regions under Russian occupation, this access has not been granted; MSF […]
Read More… from Between enemy lines: the destruction of healthcare infrastructure in Ukraine