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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 24, 2026
MEDIA CONTACT:
Prapti Ajmera West End Strategy Team
[email protected]| 202-867-5231
Four Years Since Russian Invasion, MedGlobal Calls for Protection of Healthcare and Civilians in Ukraine
On the fourth anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, MedGlobal condemns the continued, systematic attacks on healthcare facilities, energy infrastructure, and first responders.
Four years into the war, civilians across Ukraine continue to face relentless missile and drone strikes that devastate critical infrastructure and healthcare, and place millions at risk. After four years of conflict, violence continues to escalate; last year was the deadliest year in the war for civilians with a 31% rise in civilian casualties from the previous year.
MedGlobal condemns the ongoing use of drones to target civilians and first responders. Last year, there was an alarming 120% rise in civilian casualties from short-range drones. A recent MedGlobal report, Drones and Scalpels: Emergency Medicine in Ukraine and the Future of Drone Warfare, warned drone warfare is causing complex trauma injuries and catastrophic delays in medical evacuations. MedGlobal trains frontline medics to respond to these new dynamics to keep patients alive on the frontlines.
Ukraine accounted for nearly 43 per cent of all attacks on healthcare globally in 2025. During 2025, 561 of the 1,320 attacks on medical facilities, personnel, patients, warehouses, transport and supplies recorded worldwide in the WHO Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care occurred in Ukraine.
Since the start of the invasion, MedGlobal has worked alongside Ukrainian partners to strengthen emergency preparedness, trauma care, and diagnostic capacity. To date, MedGlobal has:
- Trained more than 4,000 healthcare professionals across 119 hospitals and 15 medical universities in 16 oblasts.
- Trained more than 1,900 Ukrainian first responders, equipping them with practical, field-based skills to make rapid, lifesaving decisions under fire, and instructing them in chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and response protocol.
- Distributed $23 million in medications and medical supplies to over 524 health centers across 20 regions.
- Delivered more than 8,500 mobile clinic consultations in frontline and conflict-affected communities.
“Four years into this full-scale war – characterized by relentless attacks on hospitals and deliberate targeting of first responders — Ukraine continues to stand because its doctors, nurses, and rescuers refuse to stop”, said Oleksandra Kozlovska, MedGlobal Ukraine Country Representative. “Behind these heroes stand our partners and donors, whose support enables MedGlobal to train thousands of medical professionals, strengthen our health system, and ensure that even amid devastation, healing continues and lives are saved.”
On this solemn fourth anniversary, MedGlobal calls for:
- The immediate protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure in line with states’ obligations under International Humanitarian law, including the protection of healthcare facilities, medical personnel, and first responders.
- An immediate halt to “double-tap” attacks — in which a second strike is launched to target first responders and medical personnel arriving at the scene of an initial attack.
- International investigations and accountability for attacks on civilians, including those targeting rescuers and healthcare workers.
- Continued international support to sustain Ukraine’s health system and humanitarian response as it faces extraordinary strain. Last year, Ukraine’s humanitarian response received 63% of the support required. So far in 2026, it is only 14% funded – and the health response is even worse off, only 5% funded at a time when 4.5 million Ukrainians require health assistance from humanitarian actors. Meanwhile, the cost for the recovery and reconstruction of the health system is now estimated at over $23 billion.
“Supporting emergency and pediatric life-saving training is how we protect Ukraine’s children,” said Alicia Bean, Nursing Programs Consultant, Resuscitation and Emergency Response Volunteer. “In medicine we fight for every life, and we’ll continue to stay in that fight with the providers in Ukraine to make sure help arrives ready, fast, and trained to save them.”
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About MedGlobal
MedGlobal is a humanitarian nonprofit organization that provides emergency medical response and health programs to build resilience among vulnerable communities around the world. The organization’s health programs support victims of crisis and conflict, refugees, internally displaced persons, and marginalized communities in disaster-affected and low-resource settings.
