February 23rd 2024.
A group of Ukrainian medics recently made a visit to the UK, accompanied by an ambulance from Kherson that had been bombed by Russian forces on October 5, 2023. Unfortunately, it's become somewhat of a running joke among medics in Ukraine that Vladimir Putin's troops see the Red Cross sign on ambulances as a bullseye. Ever since the first Russian tanks crossed into Ukrainian territory on February 24, 2022, it was clear that the Geneva Convention's "laws of war" were being completely disregarded in this new chapter of Eastern European history.
In this ongoing conflict, the Kremlin has declared hospitals, medical centers, pharmacies, and paramedics as fair game. As the full-scale invasion enters its third year, there have been almost 1,336 attacks on Ukraine's health system, averaging almost two per day. The Agency has documented almost 1,000 of these assaults, revealing Russia's deliberate strategy to destroy critical infrastructure. Shockingly, out of these attacks, 699 have damaged or destroyed hospitals and clinics, 75 have affected children's hospitals, and 54 have affected women's health facilities.
The numbers don't stop there. Tragically, 198 healthcare workers have been killed and 137 others have been injured in these attacks. One of those who narrowly escaped death is Canadian volunteer combat medic, Brandon Mitchell. He had two close calls while serving in Ukraine. In one instance, his unit had to abandon a medical checkpoint in Zaporizhzhia after hearing on a captured radio that the Russian military was planning to bomb it. Less than 24 hours later, the center was struck and completely destroyed. Brandon also drove an ambulance through two enemy mines during an evacuation, causing an explosion that miraculously he survived. However, he suffered serious injuries and spent six weeks recovering in the hospital. Even though he survived, the trauma of the attack continues to haunt him.
Before being injured, Brandon had helped save four children, but he still feels guilty about not being able to do more. "In the hour after being pulled out of the ambulance, I felt like I had done enough. I didn't have to prove that I was a man anymore. It was a very difficult and scary week," he shared with The Agency. "Later on, I felt guilty for feeling relieved and happy, but it's just a natural human reaction. I don't know how to put it into words, sorry for my language, but that's the truth."
Another brave medic, Iryna Kalinina, was just 32 years old and pregnant when she was injured in a Russian airstrike on a maternity hospital in Mariupol on March 9, 2022. Sadly, this is a common tactic for Russia, waiting about 30 minutes after bombing a civilian target and then striking again when first responders arrive. Brandon says this "double tap" attack is what often results in the deaths or injuries of emergency crews, just as it did for some of his colleagues in the strike at the railway station in Kramatorsk in April 2022.
Brandon arrived in Ukraine shortly after the beginning of the invasion, delivering humanitarian aid from Lviv to Kharkiv. He eventually joined the Hospitallers, a volunteer medical battalion that provides first aid and evacuates wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the warzone. During his time there, he took a brief break to travel to the UK, where he toured cities with the wreckage of a bombed ambulance brought all the way from Kherson in the week leading up to the two-year anniversary.
Joining Brandon in London was Kateryna Pryimak, co-founder of the Ukrainian Women's Veteran Movement. She joined the group of paramedics and was photographed holding a sign that read, "I am a Ukrainian medic and I brought this ambulance targeted by Russia for all to see. There's many more..." When the war broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, Kateryna couldn't just sit idly by, so she signed up to serve with the Hospitallers. For 11 months, she worked as a paramedic in the hottest spots near Donetsk airport. In 2022, as Putin returned with a vengeance, she switched to providing humanitarian aid.
Kateryna has witnessed some of the most harrowing parts of the invasion, from women soldiers carrying grenades with them at all times to blow themselves up in case they are captured and raped by Russian soldiers, to direct attacks on ambulances transporting wounded civilians. "We're living in a reality that the mind can't comprehend. It's like a computer game, like Call of Duty. We're living in grief," she shared. "Whatever you do as a medic, you're helpless against the huge bombs that come your way every 10 minutes. I didn't have a gun to protect myself."
Kateryna recalled an incident in 2014 when Russian soldiers used a captured Ukrainian radio to call for medical assistance in the east. When they arrived at the scene, the enemy soldiers began shooting at them, a tactic that was used throughout the war. "If they kill all the medics, it means that there will be no one to treat Ukrainian soldiers and civilians," she explained.
In addition to direct attacks on the healthcare system, Russian soldiers have also been detaining and threatening healthcare workers. Patients in occupied Ukrainian territories have also been blackmailed into changing their nationality in order to receive treatment, a process referred to as "passportization." This conflict continues to take a toll on the lives of innocent civilians and the brave medics who risk their lives to help others.
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