Every day brings a new challenge to the citizens of Ukraine. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) verified a total of 8,709 civilian deaths during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as of May 1, 2023. Furthermore, 14,666 people were reported to have been injured. However, OHCHR specified that the real numbers could be higher. Only on the 3rd of May Russian shelling of Kherson city took away 23 lives, 46 people were injured. The first shelling began soon after Ukrainian forces liberated the city in the beginning of November 2022. Since then it still continues almost every day and endangers the life of Kherson inhabitants. On top of it the actions of Russian soldiers destroy the essentials: electricity, gas and water supply lines. The fields are full of Russian mines, that prevent people from planting new crops, growing new food and earning money. A lot of businesses are out of operation as it is never safe in Kherson. Furthermore, the population of the city is only about 17% of that before the war. “These are groups of citizens with limited mobility or socially unprotected categories of the population who cannot afford to leave or some other conditions do not allow them to do so. There are those who simply remain, because they consider it the norm,” said Dmitry Pletenchuk, press officer of the city’s defense commandant’s office, on the air of the national telethon.
After the occupation began, people who decided to stay in Kherson searched for a way to help their fellow citizens. Regular Kherson civilians saw an opportunity to bring help to others even under the occupation by joining Kherson branch of Ukrainian Red Cross (URC). Volunteer Mikola says: “Before the war, I thought that Red Cross was just “selling a brand”. After the beginning of the war, my acquaintances who worked in the Red Cross, asked for my help in distributing products by bicycle. That’s how I joined this organization. In between of transporting the food, I learned about the existence and structure of the rapid response squad (RRS). I received training in pre-medical care and became a part of the RRS.”
Even though URC organization was highly monitored by Russian authorities, it still had a recognizable international name. Therefore, volunteers of the Red Cross were allowed to operate on occupied territories and bring humanitarian aid to those in need in Kherson city and surrounding villages. It all started with the URC volunteers going to the territories of free Ukraine to pick up collected food aid. At that time those were mostly big bags meant for wholesale with food like pasta, all sorts of grain, vegetables, canned food. After the food was brought to Kherson, one team of volunteers packed it into smaller bags and formed food packages that could fit into a backpack while another distributed this aid across the city by bicycles. As the operations started to grow, the URC office which, ironically, was located on Moskovskaya street, was crowded with locals, who searched for food, medicine, and other help that URC could offer at that moment.
After the liberation of Kherson, the organization expanded its activities to neighboring villages. Up to this day volunteers fill up cargo trucks and supply people with food rations, hygiene kits, portable gas stoves and other products that are donated to the Red Cross of Ukraine and brought from the cities located further from the frontline like Mykolaiv and Odessa. Together with URC, a help is provided by such organizations as Samaritan’s Purse and World Central Kitchen. For a big part of the population in this once occupied area the provided aid significantly eases everyday struggles and makes the life much more enjoyable.
Even though the Russian army left the city and the horrors of the occupation are now in the past, the struggle is not over. The operations of the volunteer organizations are constantly challenged by Russians. As mentioned above, the shelling constantly endangers the warehouses with the donations. Moreover, the lives of the volunteers are threatened way too often. In December a “GRAD” missile hit the URC office at Moskovskaya street, ignited the gas pipe and endangered the lives of the people inside. On December 15th another “GRAD” landed next to the office and killed young volunteer Viktoria. On March 24th Russian tank shelled the new office and damaged the warehouse on Mykolaivske highway in Kherson. On May 7th a warehouse of the Odessa branch was destroyed. The mortar fire finds the volunteers even on their humanitarian aid distribution missions in the villages.
On top of it, members of the Red Cross rapid response squads endanger their lives when going on the rescue missions. As there are a lot of new killed and injured people every day, RRS volunteers who decided to receive first-aid training provide their help as an ambulance team. In rotation with squads from Odessa and Mykolaiv, Kherson squads 24/7 provide their help to governmental structures in the first treatment of civilians. Some of the calls are from elderly people or from people with disabilities who got in trouble. However, 90% of their job consists of acting upon shelling to save lives of those, who got any type of injury. From amputation to shrapnel wounds – RRS deals with anything to prevent a death of another innocent civilian. The worst part is, that sometimes during their rescue operations, volunteers find themselves under the Russian fire. Recently Russians began to use a new tactic. First they fire a shell or a rocket that hits people, then wait for the police, doctors and volunteers to arrive at the shelling scene and then fire again now targeting people who try to help injured. It makes it incredibly difficult to save lives of people as well as protect their own. As Mikola says, “It is good if we survive until the evening. If we see the dawn – it is even better.”
One can imagine how much stress volunteers in Kherson experience every day. Over a cup of a hot tea they will share stories about work in such hostile environment, tell one about the pain and grieve they have over lost friends and family. Describe the nightmares full of bodies torn apart and brains on the asphalt. About a moment when they hold their dying team member in their hands but have to choose to leave them to save those who can still be helped. Without exaggeration, Kherson Red Cross volunteers took on a hefty burden to carry. But one will never hear a word of a regret from any single person in the rapid response squad in particular or URC in general. Only sheer determination to help others as much as possible as long as needed.
There is a new challenge that the members of Red Cross soon will face. It will be connected to the liberation fights of the left bank of Dnipro. They will bring a large amount of casualties meaning lots of job for the rapid response squads right next to the front line in conditions even worse than now. Despite it, the volunteers do not step away. On the contrary, they are in every possible way preparing themselves to cross the river as soon as there is a need to help people. Without any doubt, as individuals they have already won the war.