Taking ambulances to Ukraine is one thing, but helping to evacuate the wounded where “medics are saving lives in impossible situations” is another.
Oleg Dmitriev, the Chairman of Edinburgh based charity, Sunflower Scotland, has returned once again from the front line in Ukraine where he was learning and helping to do that. The charity’s main goal is to help medical staff – gifting vehicles to the Ukrainian defenders has become a secondary part of their work.
Together with Dmitriev’s team, Sunflower donated medical supplies and six vehicles. After that, Oleg worked for a week with a team of paramedics who are helping treat and remove people who are wounded by Russian bombs and drones.
The paramedic team is part of one of Ukraine’s assault brigades. The brigade fielded incoming calls for help and the paramedic team responded, picking up wounded people at a variety of locations, giving them first aid and taking them to a “stabik” or field hospital.
Oleg explained he wanted to find out more about the issues which paramedics are facing and what help they really need to save lives.
He said: “Of course my team and I help areas near the front – and we must know exactly what is needed and what isn’t.”
Until now Sunflower Scotland has evolved from taking goods from Scotland to Ukraine, to raising funds to buy goods in Ukraine to sustain the economy there – and thirdly to donating medical supplies to help Ukrainian medics save lives near the front. But in order to get to these dangerous areas, they needed cars and vans. After giving the bandages, syringes and other first aid items to the doctors, Sunflower Scotland donates vehicles to Ukrainian medics or soldiers at the front, where they are most needed.
Oleg said: “Working with paramedics was tough and involved a certain level of risk. Russian FPV drones were hovering over our location several times every day and I could hear them hitting other targets around. Our post was in a simple shed in a village. Whenever I wanted to step out from the shed – even to visit the garden toilet – I had to carry a drone detector.
“During evacuations, while paramedics were working and providing first aid my job was to observe the sky for drones. I used the drone detector for radio drones, and “listened to the sky” for fibre-optic drones which cannot be detected. In case of a drone I had to warn others, and – at the absolute worst – try to shoot it down with a shotgun.”
He explained that there are many Russian drones in Ukraine, “For many miles behind the front, drones are flying freely, observing everything, hunting for people and cars. Driving on big roads is very dangerous, you see black silhouettes of burnt cars.
“Ambulances are targeted, possibly more than other vehicles. Medics are hiding under the trees to avoid getting killed. Ambulances driving on dirt roads is still OK in the summer, when the winter comes ambulances will be stuck and the evac process will be so much harder. Ukraine needs lots of 4×4 ambulances.
“Medical consumables are in short supply, paramedics often have to buy basic stuff like IV needles out of pocket.
“Evacuation takes 2 – 15 days or more because of the drones. The wounded need to sit and wait. Ukrainian medics send drones with pill-packs with bandages, painkillers and antibiotics. Dragging people from the front to an evac point is the hardest. If the person still has legs, medics send them crutches and painkillers, and tell to limp back.
“I spoke with a Ukrainian soldier who had a broken leg. He was hiding for 75 days until his bones fused and he could crawl back.”
While he was in Ukraine Oleg texted home to Edinburgh what was needed and two other volunteers Stevie and Elvira drove two vehicles out loaded with medical supplies. After dropping the supplies the two vehicles were donated to Kraken.”
In total, Sunflower Scotland donated 70 vehicles to Ukraine, having shipped tonnes of medical supplies. If you can help their work supporting a dozen hospitals in frontline areas then contact the charity through their website.
Asked what is the crucial thing they need right now Oleg was, as usual, quite direct.
He said: “Please donate vehicles, or money to buy medical supplies and also batteries for the winter.”
