On 12 November 2024, our team from LifeLine Ukraine undertook an intense journey—another visit to our partners and projects in the border regions of eastern Ukraine. As the first snow of the year fell on Kyiv, we set out, our truck fully loaded with gifts, equipment, and a massive anti-drone system mounted like a beacon on the roof. We stopped at a WOG gas station about 70 km out of the city. We bought coffee and hot dogs. It was 7 a.m.
Over several days, we traveled through sprawling fields and war-torn cities. We saw floodplains lined with birch trees under lead-colored skies. We saw clothes hung out to dry in the stiff November wind. We saw checkpoints, sentry boxes, dragon’s teeth, and rows upon rows of half-dug trenches. But most importantly, we stopped by several of our projects and partners that, to us, embody the struggles and resilience of the Ukrainian people.
- IDP Shelter in Koblevo. Once a lively Black Sea resort, Koblevo now shelters 300 internally displaced persons (IDPs), including children. Here you see the true cost of war—families displaced by bombings; a grieving widower; a kitchen reduced to just an ice-cream freezer and microwave. Lifeline Ukraine provides a monthly budget for food and delivers humanitarian aid to the hostel and nearby Mykolaiv City in partnership with Mikhail Trofanyuk. But at the end of the day it’s the people themselves that make it livable, of course. We just do what we can, thanks to your support.
- The Mykolaiv Oncology Hospital. Inside the Mykolaiv Oncology Hospital we found dedicated doctors and patients persevering. Dimitri, an anesthesiologist at the hospital, greeted us at the entrance. He wore a crisp white doctor’s coat with a pen and diary tucked neatly in the breast pocket. We handed over a laryngoscope to him donated by Hôpital Wallon. The following day we left the city in the early-morning dark. Next stop: Kherson.
- Maternity Ward in Kherson. In this city battered by incessant missile attacks, we visited maternity ward number 1. Our partner Viktoriya Hmilevska, responsible for all healthcare facilities in the Kherson region, showed us the ongoing renovations to the X-ray room in a newly constructed underground hospital. Kherson is full of underground hospitals nowadays, for obvious reasons. We stood sheltered in a hallway and talked with the administrators. As of today, they told us, there are only 4000 children left in Kherson, a devastating statistic for a city that once counted three hundred thousand people. “But as long as there is a single child born in this city,” our Viktoriya said determinedly, “we will remain.” She escorted us to see two of the mobile dental clinics, donated by Lifeline, thanks to the generous support of IMC Chicago and DHIN Netherlands. One of the clinics was heavily damaged by the artillery fire. We stood there looking at it, solemn. Then a blast sounded in the distance, and we went inside for coffee.
- Territorial Services & State Rescue Services in Sumy. Driving from Kherson, we arrived in Sumy at noon. We met with mayors from several counties and representatives of the territorial services and the DSNS (the State Rescue Services of Ukraine). We listened to them. They told us that despite over 70 attacks per day since the invasion from Kursk, and despite outdated equipment and limited budgets, the DSNS responds to over 40 daily emergencies—a staggering amount. At 3 p.m., we sat at a long table for a lunch banquet of salads, meats, and cheeses. The mayors of Sumy Province shared their stories with us. Toasts were raised. To us. To each other. To the glorious dead. The spirit of fellowship was so thick in that room you could have cut it with a knife. It was almost like a celebration, except there wasn’t any music other than the rhythmic blasts of artillery fire in the distance.
- Chernihiv. In Chernihiv, we met Tetiana Lebedeva, the director of the Children’s Hospital. There, we saw the Lifeline Knowledge Bridge at work. In this initiative, doctors from several Dutch hospitals—Amsterdam UMC, Emma Kinderziekenhuis, and Juliana Kinderziekenhuis—share their expertise with local doctors and vice versa in a room specially designated for such meetings. A room that was renovated on our initiative and financed by USAID. Additionally, we are currently overseeing an energy-efficiency renovation of the kitchen block, which serves 350 young patients. We also visited and inspected four water wells we repaired in the Chernihiv region, ensuring vital resources are available to the local community. Our visit was worthwhile, and we’ll continue to help with regular shipments of humanitarian aid.
There is no conceivable way to convey in one short article all the things we saw and all the people we met during our trip to eastern Ukraine. We also visited the Patriot Shelter in Zaporizhzhia, of course, where our partners Inna and Svetlana, two angels on earth, manage a clean and well-maintained hostel that houses 30 IDPs, including children. You cannot imagine the kind of selflessness that exists in this world until you go to a place where you can see it with your very own eyes. The Patriot Shelter is one such place.
Another such place is the Dzhunkivskyi boxing gym in Irpin, which we visited after our return to Kyiv. It was the day of the official opening, and several disabled veterans were there for the occasion, as well as Sergiy Konsyushokn, president of the Strongman Foundation Ukraine. Our founder Jeroen Ketting went in for a friendly bout of sparring with the director of our Kyiv office, Oga Krasko. He then delivered a speech.
“You are military men and women,” he said. “So I will keep it short and clear.”
And he did. He thanked the veterans in the room for their service, for keeping the European border safe from tyranny and banditry, and ended with a customary and familiar call-and-response.
“Glory to Ukraine.”
“Glory to the heroes,” we responded.
In connecting us to the hearts and minds of the Ukrainian people, this trip reaffirmed why we do what we do at LifeLine Ukraine. The challenges are immense, but so are the stakes. These communities don’t have the luxury of giving up. Neither do we. Thanks to your support, we can continue to save Ukrainian lives.
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