Of Svitlana Duckhovych
For over ten years they have been operating among the explosions, rubble and the most dangerous areas of the Ukrainian front with a single objective: saving human lives. They are the Hospitallers, a unit of volunteer paramedics founded in 2014 by Yana Zinkevych, which has become one of the symbols of emergency healthcare in war. The numbers tell the extent of their commitment: around 1,800 volunteers took part in the missions and over 43 thousand wounded were evacuated thanks to their intervention.
During her recent visit to Rome, where she participated in the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, greeting Pope Leo XIV, Yana Zinkevych told the Vatican media about the daily reality of a team that continues to operate exclusively thanks to volunteering and donations. About 85% of the funds come from Ukraine, while the remaining 15% come from abroad. No member receives a salary, only the essential expenses necessary to undertake the missions are reimbursed.
Behind every evacuation there is not only courage and a spirit of sacrifice, but also rigorous preparation, the ability to work in a team and extraordinary resilience. The crews, made up of three or four people, tackle each intervention together, sharing responsibilities and risks. According to Zinkevych, between 90 and 95 percent of the wounded in their care manage to be evacuated alive. The rescuers continue the resuscitation maneuvers until they arrive at the hospital, without ever interrupting assistance even in the most desperate situations. Operations, however, became increasingly difficult. The evolution of the conflict has profoundly changed the conditions on the ground. The so-called “kill zones”, constantly under enemy fire, often make it impossible to quickly reach the wounded. If in the past evacuation could take place in a few hours, today some soldiers remain isolated for days or even weeks before being rescued. For this reason, soldiers are recommended to always carry antibiotics and essential medicines with them, so as to limit the risk of infections while waiting for help.
The composition of the unit has also changed over time. At the beginning it consisted almost exclusively of men. Today women and men are present in almost equal numbers and many missions are conducted by volunteers. The average age is just twenty-five years old and numerous former volunteers, after their experience in the Hospitallers, have taken on positions of responsibility in the health services of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Only a fifth of the volunteers have medical training when they join the unit, all the others are prepared through an intense training course. For Yana Zinkevych, however, technical skills alone are not enough. The indispensable qualities are humanity, sense of responsibility and ability to care for others. This is also demonstrated by the fact that the Hospitallers provide assistance not only to soldiers, but also to civilians, children and even animals, thanks to a humanitarian veterinary mission.
The price paid by this organization is very high. Since 2014, 39 volunteers have died and 2024 was one of the most painful years, with the loss of three rescuers in the line of duty. For the manager, these are not simply colleagues, but people with whom she has shared years of life. Accompanying families in mourning and respecting the last wishes of missing volunteers has become a responsibility that it considers an integral part of its mission. Zinkevych herself personally knows the meaning of rehabilitation. After a serious car accident in 2015, he moves around in a wheelchair, but continues to lead the organization. From this experience was born the project of a rehabilitation center capable of hosting up to two hundred people and assisting thousands of patients every year. At the same time, the Hospitallers organize first aid courses for the civilian population, training tens of thousands of citizens. Underpinning this reality is a belief that has not changed since the beginning of the war: every human life deserves to be saved. It is this principle, together with the desire to guarantee a future for one’s country, that continues to push hundreds of young volunteers to enter the front line every day, transforming solidarity into a concrete defense of hope.
