2023.09.24

 Every day brings new challenges for Mykhailo Danilyuk. 

 The 34-year-old surgeon has been operating on wounded 

patients since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 

splitting his time between three hospitals.

 “In a 24-hour shift, I usually do at least five surgeries, but 

my record is 12 — not counting minor soft tissue injuries,” he said. 

 Currently, state hospitals overseen by Ukraine’s Ministry of 

Health are legally mandated to procure supplies through the 

use of ProZorro — a digital platform designed to encourage 

competition among medical suppliers and transparency for 

the public. 

 Even when all goes well, it can take two weeks before the 

orders are delivered. Sometimes it takes longer.

 “One order took six months to arrive,” Danilyuk explained. 

“When the wounded arrive, as they are now, as they did 

yesterday, and as they will tomorrow, we constantly need 

to replenish. And if we run out of a specific item, it is much 

faster to call a volunteer and tell them what we’re short of. 

 I’d say 90 percent of what I use comes from volunteers.”

 Forty-five-year-old ophthalmologist Serhiy Malyshev is a 

leading figure in Zaporizhzhia’s volunteer network, helping 

to source medical supplies. 

 Malyshev and his team have helped deliver over €150,000 

worth of medical supplies donated from abroad, with one 

truckload from supporters in the Netherlands worth €26,000 

arriving in July. At the time of writing, no other large donations 

had been pledged since April. 

 “The first problem is the government isn’t supplying enough 

of what we need fast enough. The second problem is that 

medicines and equipment travel through Lviv, Kyiv and Dnipro. 

 By the time it gets to us, maybe 1 percent of these goods are 

left,” Danilyuk explained.

 “I’ve heard many stories about humanitarian aid being stolen,” 

said Dr. Andriy Nykonenko, a colleague of Malyshev who is 

based in western Ukraine.

 https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-war-alarming-dwindling-donations-ukrainian-hospitals/