Ukraine, 3 years already
Present before the start of the conflict, the Luxembourg Red Cross continues to intervene in Ukraine to support people affected by the fighting and its consequences throughout the country.
In Ukraine, the Luxembourg Red Cross is operating in four key areas:
– shelter, which involves the renovation of hospitals, schools, and homes;
– relief, consisting in supplying non-food items to the front lines in Donetsk;
– health, focusing on providing medical supplies and equipment;
– capacity building, aimed at strengthening the capabilities of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society.
One main focus of the Luxembourg Red Cross in Ukraine is to enable hospitals to continue to receive as many patients as possible, despite the damage they have suffered.
The Ukrainian health system faces a number of challenges. The first, of course, is to repair the destruction caused by the bombardments so that it can continue to function.
The second is to absorb the increase in the number of people requiring treatment in certain oblasts (administrative regions): the arrival of internal refugees means an increase in the local population, which means that some local resources are inadequate.
Finally, some establishments have simply never had the benefit of renovation or real modernisation of their equipment and infrastructure in decades: the strain on teams and equipment following the conflict can jeopardise situations that are sometimes already precarious.
Tsarychanska Central Hospital
Tsarychanska Central Hospital underwent refurbishment, with particular emphasis on repairing the infectious diseases department. The renovation included improvements to the heating system, water supply, sewage system, electrical networks and the installation of access ramps. In addition, repairs were made to the reception porches, internal partitions and doors.
Dnipro University Hospital
Several wings of Dnipro University Hospital were directly or indirectly affected by missile or drone strikes. The installation of new windows (1,200 square metres replaced) has enabled teams to continue patient care while training new health professionals.
Kyiv Regional Children’s Hospital (Boyarka)
The intervention strengthened the hospital’s resilience in the face of blackouts and power cuts caused by missile and drone attacks on the electricity supply infrastructure in the Kyiv region, as well as installing a specialised oxygen system in the building. This hospital receives pregnant women from dangerous areas of the country. This hospital is the first, far from the front line, to be able to treat high-risk pregnancies, premature births (the incidence of which has increased due to the stress caused by the war) and paediatric illnesses.
Specialised medical centre for the Kyiv region (Boyarka)
This establishment is the main regional medical care centre for phthisis and infectious diseases. As a result of the conflict, the number of tuberculosis cases has increased, underlining the hospital’s vital role in the health response. Specialist equipment has been provided to ensure high-quality cleaning of patients’ sheets and clothes, preventing infections among staff and patients. In addition, state-of-the-art medical equipment has been installed throughout the centre.
Medical Hub for Mariupol internally displaced people
The Luxembourg Red Cross established the Medical Hub which serves as a shelter for internally displaced individuals from Mariupol. The project’s goal is to offer essential medical services by establishing medical centers in areas with the highest concentration of internally displaced people from Mariupol. Furthermore, it will provide all displaced residents with a variety of medical services in one location, ranging from primary care to consultations with specialists and laboratory tests.
Three years of conflict, 10 million people far from home.
The conflict has taken a particularly heavy human toll. In addition to the dead and wounded (estimated at more than 1 million, both civilian and military, on both sides), the United Nations estimates that, by early 2025, 6.3 million people had fled Ukraine and 3.7 million were displaced across the country. It is estimated that Ukraine had a population of 43 million in 2022, before the conflict. Applying these figures to the Grand Duchy would mean displacing the entire population of Luxembourg City, Strassen, Bertrange and Walferdange.
