In a bid to help local health care resources cope with the extremely high demand for their services treating the wounded, Ukrainian billionaire businessman Vadym Novynskyi has been donating ambulances to the defenders of the Donbas.
According to the Vadym Novynskyi Foundation, more than 130 ambulances have been donated to Ukraine’s defenders since the start of the all-out war. The ambulances are equipped with defibrillators, vacuum bags, and stretchers.
Since April 2022, the ongoing battle of Donbas has led to thousands of injuries and deaths throughout eastern Ukraine. Troops on the front line are awaiting the delivery of “battle-changing” NATO tanks, which could help Ukrainian forces drive out occupying Russian troops and reclaim the area as Ukraine’s territory.
It’s estimated that more than 4,600 people were killed in the region between 2014 and 2021, and a further 14,200 were injured. Since Russia launched its invasion in 2022, however, this number will likely be much higher.
Ambulances for Donbas Defenders
In February, Vadym Novynskyi, through his charitable foundation, handed over another ambulance to military unit A3283, which performs combat missions in the Donetsk and Luhansk territories. The unit has suffered significant combat losses due to its inability to quickly evacuate the wounded with suitable equipment.
Responding to the unit’s pleas for help, the Vadym Novynskyi Foundation provided a Volkswagen ambulance to the defenders. As reported in a press release published on the Vadym Novynskyi Foundation website, Ilyas Zaza, medical director, told representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, “We are happy to help the fighters of the 17th separate tank brigade today. We very much hope that this car will serve the noble cause of saving the lives of military personnel and solving the humanitarian problems of the civilian population in the regions where you perform your difficult service,”
Novynskyi has also provided a new ambulance to military unit A4638, which also appealed to the foundation with a request for help. “We are happy to hand you the technical passport, the contract, and the keys to the car,” said Tetyana Kyrychenko, the foundation’s deputy director for international relations, during a meeting with representatives of the unit, which expressed its gratitude for the vehicle. According to the soldiers, it will be used in the Bakhmut area, which is sustaining heavy shelling from Russian forces.
In addition to supplying ambulances to the Ukrainian military, Novynskyi has been distributing humanitarian aid and food packages to civilians affected by the war. Recently, more than 2.5 tons of food were donated to the Kherson region, which was liberated from Russian occupation in November and has been the subject of heavy shelling since then from across the Dnipro River.
“Today, many people are in dire need of food and hygiene products. That is why we are constantly expanding the amount of aid to those who survive under shelling every day,” said a statement published on the foundation’s website in October. “On the instructions of Vadym Novynskyi, our humanitarian aid headquarters is forming 5 tons of food kits and 500 kits of hygiene products every day.”
