“Ambulances for Kharkiv – Donate so that help can be provided”
Russian troops are attacking targets in Ukraine on a daily basis. Hospitals, medical facilities and emergency services are also being deliberately bombed. The danger is particularly high in regions close to the front line and in cities such as Kherson, Kramatorsk and Kharkiv. The targeted hunting of civilians and infrastructure in Kherson using so-called FPV (first-person view) drones – the so-called ‘human safari’ – is utterly perverse. Yet in other cities too, emergency services and first responders are falling victim to drone and missile attacks in exactly the same way.
We have now received an urgent appeal for support from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Vladimir Viktorovich Usov, Head of the Kharkiv District Military Administration, and Viktor Federovich Zabashta, Director of the Regional Centre for Emergency Medicine and Disaster Relief, have addressed us via video. In the video, they report on the situation in Kharkiv, with Vladimir Viktorovich Usov telling us:
“We are writing to ask for your help in providing charitable aid in the form of ambulances. Our district is located in a combat zone. Five municipalities were previously in the occupied zone – they have now been liberated. However, active fighting is still taking place. Every day, medical staff suffer from explosions, injuries and damage to their vehicles.”
Vladimir Viktorovich Usov, Head of the Military Administration of the Kharkiv District
During the war, more than one hundred and ninety vehicles were damaged in the city centre; more than twenty of them have been completely destroyed and cannot be repaired. The vehicles are attacked by drones practically every day, and electronic countermeasures do not always help. We therefore need help with the vehicles.
Viktor Federovich Zabashta, Director of the Regional Centre for Emergency Medicine and Disaster Relief
ISHR member Jens Leisenberg hands over medical supplies to Zabashta Viktor Federovich
We have been in contact with Viktor Federovich Zabashta, Director of the Regional Centre for Emergency Medicine and Disaster Relief, for several years now.
On previous trips to Ukraine, we were able to distribute medical supplies, further humanitarian aid and even ambulances – all funded by donations – in the Kharkiv area with his help.
In the video, Federovich now reports on the current situation and the day-to-day reality facing the emergency services.
We have already received pledges from a number of donors, but we need a total of around 30,000 euros to purchase the two second-hand ambulances and to cover the costs of transporting them.
We are very grateful to ISHR member Jens Leisenberg, who has taken charge of the entire organisation, identified and inspected suitable vehicles, secured the first donors, and will also be planning and carrying out the transport. We are now relying on you for further financial support!
This second-hand ambulance is urgently needed in Kharkiv.
From monitoring fair trials in Ukraine, to the transport and distribution of humanitarian aid to various locations across the country, right through to our Frankfurt-based team’s efforts on behalf of abducted Ukrainian civilians at both national and European level, the IGFM and its partners stand firmly by Ukraine’s side.
In recent years, we have already been able to send several ambulances, medical supplies and entire lorries full of humanitarian aid – some of which was collected, some purchased – to our partners in Ukraine, and to provide financial support to our local branch there and other partners. We now have another specific project in the pipeline, and we, together with the Cottbus Human Rights Centre e.V., look forward to your support.
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