A PDMSh casevac crew: a snapshot

Roman “Tourist” Ostrovsky is a general surgeon specializing in laparoscopic surgery. According to him, there is no romance in war. “When I start packing my bag, my wife starts crying. I start to look at my children. The most important thing is that my dear ones understand why I’m coming here, and I myself understand why I’m coming here,” says Roman.

Vasyl “Sokil” comes from Luhansk. He moved to Kyiv ten years ago when what he calls “Russian bastards” entered his city. The video is shot some 100 km from his native home in Luhansk. “It hurts,” admits Vasyl.

Anya is a doctor of emergency medicine. Why is she with PDMSh? “Briefly, because this is my civic duty. And if not briefly, I understand that I can be much more useful here than in civilian life because I’m a doctor.”

In civilian life, Evhen “Stary” engages in the stretch ceiling installation. He once planned to move abroad with his family. When the full-scale war began, he was on a business trip to Poland. “I haven’t seen my family for almost two years, except for one day in Lviv, after I crossed the border from Poland,” Yevhen says.

Different people whose paths, it would seem, are unlikely to ever cross. They ended up together in the same PDMSh casevac because they have a common goal: to save the lives and health of the defenders of Ukraine and bring our victory closer.