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Ukraine - First train referral
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As the war in Ukraine continues, our teams are responding to a humanitarian crisis.

We are providing medical care to people who have been caught up in, or have been forced to flee, the fighting. Our teams are donating emergency supplies to hospitals and providing vital training to their staff. 

There is full-scale warfare in many areas, making movements difficult, dangerous or simply impossible.

We are responding in various parts of the country, based on where our assistance is needed and will have a significant impact.

Our activities in Ukraine in 2023

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2023.

MSF in Ukraine in 2023 In 2023, as the war in Ukraine remained intense, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supported the health authorities by filling critical gaps in care, particularly in areas close to the frontlines.
Ukraine IAR map 2023

In addition to providing emergency treatment, our teams developed rehabilitation projects, including care for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and physiotherapy, to cater to patients’ longer-term needs.

In 2023, we used specially designed medical trains to evacuate patients from frontline areas to safer places where they could receive the specialised care they needed. At the end of the year, this service wound down due to a shift in needs, while our ambulance service scaled up to focus on emergency care. Of the many thousands of patients we referred, almost 60 per cent were treated for violent trauma.

Our teams supported the emergency department and surgical and intensive care units at Kostiantynivka and Selydove hospitals in Donetsk region until the end of 2023, when the frequency and proximity of shelling became too dangerous to safely maintain a continuous staff presence. However, we established and managed to maintain a constant presence in a hospital in Kherson city, supporting trauma and surgical care.

Mental health support remained a crucial component of our response. In September, we started providing specialised psychotherapeutic services for people experiencing PTSD symptoms at a new centre in Vinnytsia region. In a shelter run by local organisations in Zernove, Kharkiv region, we offered psychological care to people who had moved from Russia and Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.

MSF also ran early rehabilitation projects for war-wounded people in Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sumy and Vinnytsia regions, implementing a multidisciplinary approach comprising physiotherapy, psychological support and nursing care. 

We continued to run mobile clinics delivering a range of services, including basic healthcare, emergency surgery and treatment for chronic conditions, in Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kherson and Donetsk regions, where many patients were elderly people. 

Throughout the year, we donated medicines and medical supplies to dozens of health facilities and conducted training for health professionals and first responders.
 

 

in 2023
 
MSF in Odessa
War in Ukraine

In Odessa, “everyone is preparing for the worst”

Interview 8 Mar 2022
 
Medical emergency supplies on its way to Kyiv
War in Ukraine

Emergency medical supplies rushed to Kyiv by train from Ukraine warehouse

Project Update 6 Mar 2022
 
Mariupol - March 03, 2022
War in Ukraine

Corridors are not enough for civilians and humanitarian aid in Ukraine

Project Update 5 Mar 2022
 
Mariupol - March 03, 2022
War in Ukraine

“We are calling for respect for human life” in Ukraine

Interview 5 Mar 2022
 
Mariupol, eastern Ukraine
War in Ukraine

Civilians must be allowed safe passage out of dire conditions in Mariupol

Project Update 5 Mar 2022
 
Mariupol, eastern Ukraine
War in Ukraine

Accessing areas most affected by fighting in Ukraine

Interview 3 Mar 2022