Doctors Without Borders is responding to the crisis in Ukraine
Latest Update
To date, Doctors Without Borders 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 efforts to obtain permission to access regions under Russian occupation, this access has not been granted; Doctors Without Borders has therefore been unable to observe the situation in areas under Russian military control.
In a report titled Between Enemy Lines, Doctors Without Borders reveals the massive and widespread destruction of health facilities in Ukraine, and the severe impediments to medical care under Russian military occupation.
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From the field
How we are responding in Ukraine
More than a year after Russian forces launched attacks on multiple cities in Ukraine, the intense fighting has led to a severe humanitarian crises and the displacement of millions of Ukrainians, within and outside the country.
Doctors Without Borders continue to provide care for war-wounded patients in emergency departments, ambulances and referral train. We also run mobile clinics and provide support to health facilities.
Specifically, our current response includes:
- Providing primary healthcare, including to those with chronic illnesses, and the most vulnerable people (elderly, people with disabilities, abandoned children).
- Supporting Ukrainian health facilities and medics with supplies and trainings.
- Medical evacuations for patients from overwhelmed hospitals to safer areas
- Providing mental healthcare for people who have faced traumatic experiences.
You can support our medical response in Ukraine by making a donation today
- ACROSS UKRAINE - FROM EAST TO WEST
The medical evacuation train: Doctors Without Borders runs a medical evacuation train to evacuate patients from overburdened Ukrainian hospitals close to the frontlines to safer Ukrainian hospitals with more capacity. The train began operating on 28 March 2022. In 2022, the medical train completed 79 trips, referring 2,558 patients; 700 of these patients were trauma cases, and 136 were admitted to the ICU carriage. So far in 2023, the train has referred 216 patients on 11 trips. On all the train referrals, there are family members and caretakers of some patients too.
- EASTERN UKRAINE
DONETSK OBLAST
Support to hospitals: We send donations to primary, secondary and tertiary health care services and provide training support on specialized emergency response (MCP training, MH Gap, Peritonial Dialysis). After months of disruption or decreased activities, the health care delivery system is slowly trying to recover while the needs are increasing with the partial return of a population that cannot afford to remain IDP. Therefore, we have started providing agile emergency response through an ambulance in Sloviansk and Pokrovsk.
Ambulance referrals: Doctors Without Borders ambulances refer patients between healthcare facilities, serving 16 different facilities in the Donetsk region, often to move patients from facilities close to the frontline to hospitals further away from the fighting, where they can continue their care. Most of these patients have suffered severe trauma; 1,180 patients have been transferred with this service. Among the ambulances there are also some vehicles equipped for ICU support, in 2022 41 patients were transported who were intubated or needed specific medical monitoring.
Emergency Department in Kostiantynivka: Doctors Without Borders supports the emergency department, and surgical and intensive care units with medical care at the Kostiantynivka Hospital since late July. In 2022, Doctors Without Borders teams have treated 752 patients in the ER, with 168 surgical interventions performed in the operating theatre. The Doctors Without Borders teams work alongside and in partnership with Ukrainian Ministry of Health staff. Most of the cases they see are trauma cases.
Donation and Mobile Clinic in Lyman: Lyman is in an area that was retaken by Ukrainian forces in late 2022. In the last quarter of 2022, Doctors Without Borders teams conducted 3,152 primary health care consultations in Lyman and the surrounding areas, as well as donating medical supplies. They will continue to intervene in this area and to further explore how Doctors Without Borders can best respond to needs.
- SOUTH-EASTERN UKRAINE
DNIPRO & ZAPORIZHZHIA OBLASTS
Support to displaced people: In and around Dnipro, we are supporting vulnerable people who have fled parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts where the conflict is particularly intense in more than 40 shelters. In Zaporizhzhia, we provide support to thousands of people who were displaced from Mariupol.
Mobile Clinics: Our teams have been running mobile clinics to provide medical consultations and medicines for people with chronic illnesses such as hypertension, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, epilepsy. We also do referrals to hospitals for severely unwell patients, provide psychological first aid and mental health consultations, and distribute basic relief items. These mobile clinics are being scaled down as people can access these services through the national health system.
Support to boarding houses: Our teams have also started working with boarding houses which provide care for the most vulnerable people (elderly, people with disabilities, abandoned children). We are providing nursing care trainings to the staff who are looking after patients at these boarding houses. We are also supporting specifically around infection prevention and control, logistics and regular patient care.
Emergency mobile medical team: We developed an agile emergency response capacity in coordination with the authorities that aims at providing access to comprehensive health care for civilians when the frontline is moving. That includes a medical mobile team which will visit areas close to the frontline and provide urgent medical services based on the needs including evacuation of patients and primary healthcare in both Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia.
Support to hospitals: In Zaporizhzhia, continued support to hospitals close to the front line is ongoing through donations. Mental health activities are also being increased and including workers close to the frontline as the burden of mental health trauma of the continued conflict gets heavier.
Sexual and reproductive clinic: Doctors Without Borders also runs a clinic providing sexual and reproductive health services, including contraceptives and care for people who have experienced sexual violence, as well as health promotion, information and linking to services via social media. In 2022, Doctors Without Borders teams provided 372 consultations for sexual and reproductive health in Dnipro.
Emergency room and surgical support in Apostolove: In Apostolove hospital, Doctors Without Borders provides emergency room and direct, hands-on surgical support. This includes assisting with, and working on, triage and surgical interventions. In the hospital our teams provided 972 consultations in 2022 and admitted 403 patients for violent trauma injuries.
- SOUTHERN UKRAINE
KHERSON & MYKOLAIV OBLASTS
Mobile Clinics: In the Mykolaiv oblast and in areas recently retaken by the Ukrainian forces in the Kherson oblast, Doctors Without Borders mobile clinics provide primary healthcare services, psychological counselling and social services, and contribute to the rehabilitation of healthcare facilities damaged during the fighting. The main health issues we see, after months of extremely limited access to healthcare when the area was controlled by Russian forces, are chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. Important mental health needs are also emerging; the impact of the war has overcome the stigma associated with mental health care, pushing people to come forward and seek the help of Doctors Without Borders counsellors in the villages we visited.
From a base in Kryvyi Rih medical teams have been running mobile clinics predominantly in Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts (areas heavily affected by fighting), in 2022, these mobile clinics visited 144 towns and villages in the vicinity providing a total of 8,307 medical consultations in total. The services include primary healthcare consultations, sexual and reproductive health services and mental health care, as well as health promotion. Medical teams in these areas have provided 1,848 primary health care consultations.
Ambulance referrals: Doctors Without Borders ambulances also transfer patients to hospitals and between medical facilities around Kryvyi Rih and areas in Kherson oblast. This includes one regular ambulance, one ambulance able to transport up to four patients and one ambulance able to support patients requiring ICU-level care. In 2022, 973 patients were referred using this ambulance service.
Non-communicable diseases and psychiatric patients' evacuation: Doctors Without Borders is one of the only NGOs working in Kherson city. Our teams have provided medical consultations, mainly for patients living with non-communicable diseases. Given that Kherson city’s psychiatric hospital lost power due to strikes on energy infrastructure, it was decided to evacuate the 400 patients to other medical facilities further from the frontlines, which Doctors Without Borders did with buses and trains.
Stabilization points: In Kochubeivka and Svobodny, we run stabilisation points where patients are treated before being referred to hospitals.
- NORTHERN UKRAINE
KHARKIV OBLAST, NORTHEAS
Mobile Clinic and Mental Health: We run mobile clinics in rural villages and towns in the Kharkiv region, providing primary health care, including sexual and reproductive health, and mental health support. Most of Doctors Without Borders' patients are women over the age of 60, the major medical needs are chronic illnesses, such as hypertension and diabetes. We provide non-food items such as hygiene kits and medical donations to health facilities. Many communities in the region still have destroyed or damaged health facilities and have been living without electricity and heating for months. The weather and lack of public transportation is making it more difficult for patients to travel to locations with healthcare. We are seeing an increase in acute diseases including upper respiratory tract infections and exacerbation of asthma.
Support to Psychiatric patients: The teams also provide medical and psychiatric care in 2 care houses hosting patients with severe psychiatric and neuropsychologic conditions, most of the patients didn't receive any or proper psychiatric or medical care for almost 7 months since February 2022, besides we provided group and individual psychological support for the staff of these facilities. In January 2023, we briefly supported 3 more of such facilities inside the region.
Care for Carers: The teams are continuing to provide Care for Carers for the local health care professionals who experience burn out and stress. The activities include psychological group support and stress management trainings, focusing on providing coping mechanisms.
ZHYTOMYR OBLAST, NORTHWEST
TB project: Doctors Without Borders teams continue to provide social support (food parcels and hygiene kits) and psychological support to all active TB patients to help them to keep taking their medication correctly and complete treatment. In collaboration with health authorities, Doctors Without Borders has recently started doing contact-tracing for children who have been in close contact with TB patients. Doctors Without Borders also transports samples to the TB hospital for testing so that patients’ progress can be monitored. At the same time, we continue to support the regional TB Hospital by providing them with TB and other drugs as well as laboratory consumables and food for patients.
- CENTRAL UKRAINE
KYIV OBLAST
Support to survivors of torture and physiotherapy: In Hostomel on the outskirts of Kyiv, Doctors Without Borders is running a project to treat survivors of torture. The project has mental health and physiotherapy rehabilitation components, as well as a general medical practitioner. Our teams also provide mental health care in 10 different locations outside of Kyiv, in 2022, our mental health teams provided almost 1,000 individual mental health consultations, and 184 group therapy sessions).
In Kyiv city, we provide physiotherapy and psychological counselling services for war-wounded people in a hospital managed by the Ministry of Interior. We treat patients and provide training to local health staff, to respond to a major need and bridge a significant gap in the Ukrainian healthcare system. The rehabilitation and mental health services were not particularly developed in the healthcare system prior to the war, but now there are a huge number of people with major injuries and the need for post-operative care is enormous; the trauma patients we see are at risk of developing long-term issues without proper care.
We also provide self-care and psychological first aid training for railway staff, who often end up acting as psychological first responders, as they serve people who are evacuating from areas heavily affected by the war.
KROPYVNYTSKYI OBLAST
Donations & Training: Doctors Without Borders has provided medical donations to 23 health facilities in Kirovohrad oblast, where Kropyvnytskyi is located, and the northern part of neighbouring Mykolaiv oblast. Between April and December, we provided 146 training sessions for health professionals, psychologists and first responders on things like managing a high influx of war wounded, decontamination, trauma and mental health. A total of 2,301 people participated in these training sessions. Since April our mental health team has seen 299 patients in individual sessions and 9,463 patients in group psychoeducation sessions. Doctors Without Borders is also distributing relief items (bedding kits, hygiene kits, food, firewood, electrical materials) and doing rehabilitation work in displaced people shelters, particularly in the area of water and sanitation.
VINNYTSIA OBLAST
Rehabilitation Project: Our rehabilitation project at the ministry of Health hospital in Vinnytsia continue. Our teams provide physiotherapy and psychological counselling to war-wounded people, following a similar approach to the project we operate in Kyiv. Our approach focuses on providing hands-on treatment to patients and capacity-building through training to local staff.
Mobile Clinics and Mental Health: In Vinnytsia, we run mobile clinics, particularly in the southern part of the oblast and rural areas where displaced people have settled and are not able to access primary health care. We also have mental health/health promotion-dedicated mobile teams. We are aiming to verticalize the project on mental health by addressing the needs of specific populations in secondary health facilities (war wounded, veterans, post-traumatic stress disorder/PTSD) as well as centralizing the mental health activity towards a stable structure as opposed to a mobile model. Hence, we plan to reorient the activity into fixed and mobile clinics inside the oblast and start targeting secondary health institutions for specialized mental health support to staff and patients & develop a PTSD/victims of war program to target specific populations.
- WESTERN UKRAINE
UZHHOROD AND IVANO-FRANKIVSK
Support to Outpatient department and mobile clinic: In Ivano-Frankivsk we are supporting a fixed outpatient department point and a mobile clinic focusing on displaced people patients run by doctors who are themselves displaced by the war. Since the beginning of the collaboration until December, 3,017 medical consultations were done, mainly for hypertension, cardiovascular issues, chronic diabetes and upper respiratory tract infections. In Uzhhorod and other peripheral areas we are running mobile clinics at displaced people public shelters. Between July and December, Doctors Without Borders carried out 3,925 medical consultations through mobile clinics visiting various locations in Zakarpattia Oblast, including Uzhhorod, Mukachevo or Perechyn, among others. The main medical conditions seen were hypertension, cardiovascular issues and respiratory infections. In Uzhhorod we also support a fixed interfamily volunteer clinic, where 663 medical consultations were done between November and December.
Training: We have carried out training sessions on decontamination, mass casualty, sexual and gender- based violence and mental health with local health professionals, psychologists and first responders. Between March and December, we provided 41 training sessions attended by 764 people in the oblast of Zakarpattia, to which Uzhhorod belongs, and 69 sessions in Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, with the participation of 1,146 people.
Donations: We continue to donate medical supplies on a regular basis. We have donated 84 donations of kits in about 20 facilities in these two oblasts. We also distribute relief items (bedding kits, hygiene kits, food) for displaced people, particularly in nearby rural areas, as well as do rehabilitation works at displaced people shelters. Throughout the past year, our mental health teams in both locations have seen 797 patients in individual sessions and 4,593 patients in group psychoeducation sessions.
Since the outbreak of fighting across the country, our teams have been working to mount a response to meet urgent needs. We currently work with approximately 124 international staff in Ukraine and employ around 686 Ukrainian staff. They work as medical staff (doctors, nurses); psychologists; logistics and administration; and management. (Updated on 24 February 2023)
- Belarus
As of 24 January 2023, the UNHCR has recorded 19,673 refugees from Ukraine in Belarus. According to the Belarus State Border Guards public reporting, 5,655 Ukrainians entered Belarus between 1 January 2023 and 3 February 2023.
In Belarus, Doctors Without Borders continues to respond to the medical needs of people on the move stranded between Belarus and the EU countries. While the winter conditions in Belarus seem to have caused a decrease in the number of crossing attempts into Europe, the Doctors Without Borders team is still responding to people suffering from frostbites, injuries including violence-related, and chronic diseases. Since November 2021, we have assisted more than 1200 patients from various countries of origin, few of them from Ukraine. Doctors Without Borders has not provided any direct support to patients from Ukraine since early December 2022. According to a government decree from mid-September 2022, Ukrainian citizens and stateless persons from Ukraine, regardless of their status in Belarus, have the right to affordable medical care on an equal basis with citizens of the Republic of Belarus.
In Belarus, Doctors Without Borders continues to support the delivery of person-centred care and treatment for people with drug-resistant tuberculosis via the National Tuberculosis Programme, and provide care and treatment for incarcerated people with TB, HIV and Hep C.
- Poland
More than 9.4 million people have crossed from Ukraine into Poland since 24 February 2022 (UNHCR). More than 1.5 million people have registered for temporary protection.
Doctors Without Borders is actively working to support the Ministry of Health to ensure that patients are able to access treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis, including patients previously supported by Doctors Without Borders in Ukraine.
- Russia
Over 2,800,000 people have crossed to Russia from Ukraine as of 3 October 2022 (UNHCR).
Doctors Without Borders has been present in Russia for 30 years. Currently, Doctors Without Borders' teams in Russia work with health authorities in Arkhangelsk and Vladimir regions to support crucial, life-saving treatment for patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis. In the last few months, MSF scaled up its assistance to partner organisations in St Petersburg and Moscow ensuring continuation of HIV treatment for people from Ukraine and other people in need. We have seen an increase in the number of people from Ukraine living with HIV and hepatitis C in need of refills for their antiretroviral medicines.
Alongside this, in order to respond to the needs resulting from the international armed conflict in Ukraine, Doctors Without Borders has started to support people displaced to Voronezh, Belgorod and Rostov-on-Don regions. Through regional non-governmental organisations, Doctors Without Borders has organized a team of local social workers, medical doctors, psychologists, and legal counsellors that are making efforts to ensure that people from Ukraine, mostly newly arrived ones, receive all the necessary qualified medical services in licensed medical clinics and have access to other state social services. When necessary, we have been covering any medical care gaps and paying for the necessary medications and medical consultations.
Since the beginning of activities, Doctors Without Borders has provided medical support to around 4,800 migrants which also included nearly 1020 mental health support sessions.
Doctors Without Borders is regularly supporting organisations in Voronezh, Belgorod and Rostov-on-Don regions with urgently needed items such as food, hygiene kits, and small household items that have supported more than 20,925 newly arrived migrants.
As in any country, our work in Russia is focused on providing medical care where we can, based on medical needs alone.
Our emergency response in neighbouring countries
Support our medical response
You can help our medical teams deliver emergency medical supplies and treatment to people in Ukraine by making a donation today.