Yechiel and Vladimir delivering a duffle bag full of medical supplies to Ukrainian citizens on Sunday morning
Covert Operations Succeed: Delivering Medicine To Jews Stuck In Ukraine & Bring Essential Papers To Others Wishing to Make Aliyah
Covert Operations Succeed In Delivering Medicine To Jews Stuck In Ukraine, Bring Essential Papers To Others Wishing to Make Aliyah
Chisinau – In addition to the humanitarian aid that United Hatzalah’s team has been providing to Ukrainian refugees on the Moldovan border as well as in and around the Moldovan capital of Chisinau at various refugee centers, the organization, and its volunteers have also undertaken a series of small-scale rescue missions inside Ukraine itself. In an effort to facilitate that, last week United Hatzalah purchased four local ambulances in order to send special teams inside the country from Moldova and Slovakia with the mission of distributing medical supplies to hospitals in dire need of them close to the western border of the country and rescue and recover injured and ill people who wish to flee the country but are unable to do so due to their medical conditions, be they injuries or illnesses.
One of these missions took place on Sunday morning after a group of Ukrainian Jewish citizens who stayed to protect the Jewish community property, businesses, and synagogues in various towns in the western side of Ukraine contacted the organization and requested medical and trauma care equipment. These people are not warriors nor are they paramedics. They are fathers who were not allowed to leave the country with their wives and children and parents who were forced to stay and fight in the war as part of the mandatory conscription that is the law in Ukraine. They have since organized on their own and risked their own lives in protecting the lives and property of others.
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Yehiel Gurfein, who has been in Moldova continuously since Operation Orange Wings began back on February 27th, together with Vladimir a local volunteer from the Jewish community from Moldova, departed Moldova en route to bring the much needed medical supplies to the Ukrainian citizens turned soldiers. The equipment included trauma bandages, tourniquets, medications, and food.
After a few hours of travel, numerous checkpoint stops, and hearing barrages of rockets and explosions in the distance, Yechiel and Vladimir met up with the staff on the Ukrainian side and began instructing the men on how to properly use the equipment which they were receiving.
During Yechiel and Vladimir’s trip, United Hatzalah’s dispatch in Chisinau received a heartbreaking request from Israel regarding a family of Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Israel just a few days ago on one of the organization’s rescue flights. Upon their entry into Israel, the family was faced with bureaucratic difficulties as they did not have documentation to prove that they were Jewish and therefore eligible to fully immigrate to their new country.
The family was told that if they weren’t able to provide proof of their Jewishness, then at the end of the grace period that Israel was ascribing to all refugees, they would be deported from the country.
The documents proving the family’s Jewishness remained at their home in Ukraine, in the same city where the meeting point for the transfer of medical equipment that Yechiel and Vladimir were delivering was set to take place.
Yechiel coordinated with the men in Ukraine and asked them to try and get to the abandoned family home and find the important documents so that the family in Israel could complete their Aliyah immigration to Israel.
The local team of Ukrainian citizens managed to locate the apartment in question and found the documents. When Yechiel and Vladimir arrived and handed over the medical supplies, they received the documents in return.
After traveling back to Chisinau, the documents were given to volunteers from the organization who are returning to Israel tonight onboard one of the organization’s rescue flights that is bringing back 165 Ukrainian refugees and the documents that will enable this family to complete their immigration process and avoid future deportation.
David Krispil, the commander of United Hatzalah’s Operation Orange Wings mission said, “I was in touch with Yechiel and Vladimir throughout this difficult operation that was fraught with peril. Over the course of the mission, I received continuous reports from both sides and issued instructions to safeguard the health and safety of all involved. These undercover delivery of food and medical supplies to people inside Ukraine are of vital importance and save lives. Later in the day, a second mission took place in which we delivered lifesaving medication to a Ukrainian man in Odesa who had been without his medication for nearly two weeks. Without immediate intervention, this man would not have survived. I am proud of Yechiel, Vladimir, and all the other members of our team who are undertaking these covert missions and helping to save lives each and every day inside Ukraine and on the borders. It is the least that we can do to mitigate the human tragedy of this war.”
(Photo credit: United Hatzalah)
