Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine (24 February 2022) to date, AMU – together with AFN representing the Emergency Coordination of the Focolare Movement – has undertaken numerous actions starting from the immediate collaboration with Caritas-Spes Ukraine.
After the initial immediate interventions, a second phase of support for the Ukrainian population was launched, also alongside other local partners.
Medical assistance in the two regions of Kharkiv and Vinnytsia falls within this second phase.
Kharkiv region
One of the main problems in the Kharkiv region is access to medical care: overcrowding in hospitals, lack of adequate equipment and the constant threat of shelling prevent the population from seeking treatment. With the support of the AMU , some itinerant medical teams travel throughout the region , offering free visits and medicines to those in need.
At Hanna’s house, suffering from multiple sclerosis
The medical team also reached Hanna , in the city of Kharkiv, the capital of the region of the same name. Hanna is a thirty-six-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis about ten years ago. 
Her condition gradually deteriorated until the disease confined her to bed.
Unfortunately, over time, she also lost the ability to communicate. Her two elderly parents, who also have serious health problems, care for her. With the war, the family’s situation worsened.
At Hanna’s house, the medical team left medicines and hygiene products.
Mykola, a displaced person without care
Mykola comes from the city of Bakhmut (in the Donetsk region), a site of violent military clashes between Russian and Ukrainian armed forces. When the
The Russians occupied his city, he lost everything, and together with his wife, he fled the region in search of a safer place . The two took refuge in Kharkiv, in a two-room apartment that a generous person made available to them.
They have no relatives to turn to for help. They are alone and survive thanks to the help of humanitarian organizations.
Mykola is an elderly man—77 years old—with several health problems, which he had recently neglected. Doctor Oleksandr examined him thoroughly, prescribed him the medications he urgently needed, and provided them free of charge.
(Project made possible thanks to the contribution of the 8xmille funds of the Italian Buddhist Union)