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In the “Heroes” project, Vogue Ukraine honors military personnel, doctors, artists, energy workers, paraathletes — fallen and living — heroes who, with their daily work, help the country survive in the darkest times. Volunteers of the Frida Ukraine medical mission travel with missions to the most remote corners of Ukraine to help where medical aid does not reach — and heal bodies and souls.
“I have a favorite movie – “Pay It Forward”. It's about how when you do good to one person, and then they do good to others, the world becomes a little better,” says 26-year-old Marina Lesnyk, a neurologist, psychiatrist, and captain of the Frida medical volunteer mission. She just returned from the frontline Mykhailo-Lukashivska community in Zaporizhia region, where she and her colleagues hosted residents of the surrounding villages.
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The mission schedule is tight: February 27 – March 1 – orphanage, Kirovohrad region; February 28 – March 1 – cancer screening, Chernihiv region; March 7-8 – Zaporizhia region. In total – 11 front-line and de-occupied regions. They go to places where state medicine often does not reach: to remote communities where there are no specialists, pharmacies, stable logistics, and sometimes even communications. They focus on helping civilians – most often these are the elderly, but there are also children.
Frida Ukraine consists of 1,400 volunteer doctors, most of whom are women. The mission, which operates as a “hospital on wheels,” was founded in 2022 by Israelis Mark Nevijasky and Roman Goldman, who represented Israeli medicine in Ukraine before the full-scale invasion. The Great War found them in Kyiv – they decided to stay and organize medical assistance. The mission was named in honor of Romanova's Jewish grandmother Frida; during World War II, she lived in Odessa, later evacuated to Tashkent – and missed Ukraine all her life.
Toy poodle Danger is a regular participant in the trips, an emotional support dog. He happily goes to hands, cuddles and in some strange way normalizes all the surrealism happening around: the center of Europe, a brutal war, broken homes and destinies.
“Since I started traveling on missions in 2022,” says surgeon and otolaryngologist Oksana Lazorenko, “I have visited so many cities and villages that I had never even heard of before the great invasion.” She admits that it is especially painful to see devastated settlements where life was bustling until recently. “Wonderful new laboratories in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions – equipped, modern, beautiful – are destroyed. Many cities that appear on the map are no longer there. People once lived happily here, and it is difficult to understand how in the 21st century it is possible to take and destroy everything so easily.”
Oksana's colleague, ENT doctor Marina Brylyova, who works at the Main Medical Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, has visited the hottest spots – Chasovye Yar, Kupyansk, Vovchansk . Although the mission is focused on helping civilians, they also rescue military personnel. In 2022, when they were conducting a routine reception in Bakhmut, their ambulance was almost rammed by an evacuation vehicle that came under fire. Marina and her colleagues carried a seriously wounded soldier out of there. “He asked to be saved so that he could see his newborn son,” she recalls. His life was saved.
The team of doctors decides where to go based on the requests of the communities: they communicate with the elders, with local doctors – they plan in such a way as not to duplicate the city hospitals, but to close the “white spots”. Each mission is headed by a captain who is responsible for the organization, logistics, medicines and quality of care; there are medical coordinators who assemble the teams, and a security service that takes care of the routes. They work in bulletproof vests – even Danger has one.
Frida's areas of expertise include not only large medical trips and evacuation of seriously ill patients, but also dentistry and pediatrics on wheels. There is also “Zhinkomobil” – a mobile gynecological office that can work even without water and electricity, says obstetrician-gynecologist Iryna Yevtushenko. It is equipped with equipment for tests and examinations. However, there are practically no pregnant patients – young people have left dangerous territories. “Patients often come to talk to the doctor, tell about their aches and pains – and hug them. It's such a warm hug. They thank us, and we thank them: they hold that land. If everyone left, there would be no Ukraine there.”
The team also conducts oncological screening: it receives patients, explains the importance of early diagnosis, performs ultrasound, and, if necessary, organizes on-site biopsies.
Doctors volunteer outside of their regular jobs, sacrificing weekends and time with their families. “For the first time in my life, I have no doubts about what I'm doing,” admits ultrasound doctor Olena Garmashova. “You feel the energy of people and you understand: this is exactly the circle of communication that you've been missing,” adds pediatrician Olga Sokhatska.
“I really want each of our trips to be our last,” says Garmashova. “For the war to end and for missions to no longer be needed. But as long as the fighting continues, I am ready to continue providing assistance to people who need it. As much as necessary.”
Photo: Ira Lupu
Style: Sonya Soltes
Hair and grooming: Daria Zhadan
Producer: Mariia Nikolaienko
Lighting: Michael Aziabin
Stylist Assistant: Yuliia Ostapchuk
Project curator: Alyona Ponomarenko