Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, nearly 2,000 wounded people have been evacuated from the country on special planes operated by Norway and taken to hospitals across Europe.
The Flying Hospital Saving Ukraine's Wounded
- By AFP
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A wounded Ukrainian soldier is transported to a medical evacuation plane (medevac) in Rzeszow, Poland, on March 22.
With over 800 health facilities in Ukraine targeted since Russia's full-scale invasion, medevac flights have been instrumental in saving the lives of seriously wounded soldiers and civilians.
With over 800 health facilities in Ukraine targeted since Russia's full-scale invasion, medevac flights have been instrumental in saving the lives of seriously wounded soldiers and civilians.
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Family members of wounded Ukrainian soldiers are also able to join them on the medevac flights.
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Even their pets are welcome aboard.
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Wounded Ukrainian soldier Mykola Fedirko, 22, rests on his medevac flight in Rzeszow, Poland. "It's the first time I've taken a plane," says Fedirko, who was hit by a shell holding off Russian troops in a trench in the Donetsk region.
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"I would have loved to be going to Denmark for a holiday and not to the hospital because of my wound," says Fedirko, a former salesman whose lower leg is now held in place by metal pins.
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The modified Boeing aircraft is equipped with 20 hospital beds, monitors, ventilators, blood transfusion equipment, and countless vials of antibiotics.
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It's "like a small intensive care unit in the air," says Hakon Asak, a lieutenant colonel from the Norwegian military's medical service who accompanies the wounded. "We've had no deaths onboard so far. Thank God for that," he adds with a blue-and-yellow "Free Ukraine" bracelet looped around his wrist.
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The crew of the medevac flights are civilians but the medical staff are from the Norwegian military.
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After landing at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, the injured Ukrainian soldiers are transported to a local hospital. The injured are also flown to Oslo, Copenhagen, Berlin, and Cologne.
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Medical staff prepare to move Vladyslav Shakhov after the plane's arrival at Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
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A woman comforts a wounded Ukrainian soldier as he waits to be transported out of Poland.
The Norwegian authorities estimate that half a million people are deprived of medical care in Ukraine every month.
The Norwegian authorities estimate that half a million people are deprived of medical care in Ukraine every month.
