The people of Ukraine are under constant threat of the drone and missile attacks from the Russian military. Residential areas and civilian infrastructure are repeatedly targeted, and there are regular reports of deaths and injuries. Our teams, too, must deal with this danger. In the following brief excerpts, one of our staff members describes her experiences over the past few days.

On Thursday 28 May, various messages observed on the Telegram channels with regard to highly likelihood of massive combined attacks in Ukraine within the next 72 hours. The greatest threats being in Dnipro, Kyiv and other regions. The statement was also released by the President of Ukraine.

On Saturday 30 May on our day off, the only day we have day off, we got on with our daily lives with caution but knowing the threat level being high, stayed at the guest house in the evening in case of attacks.

On Sunday 31 May, Dnipro City was attacked numerous times. The air alerts alarmed the citizens nine times throughout the day. We sheltered at 01:11, 04:59, 11:02, 13:57 and 18:26. For a few hours, I was woken up almost every hour by the sound of my phone vibrating from the air alerts, monitored the situation for half an hour or so, slept, then the same all over again. For some of the LM (loitering munition) drones that we could hear, they sounded different to us – less of a moped strong rumbling sound. In the meantime, one ambulance team was on a call in the afternoon outside of the City, where one of the LM drones was circling around the left bank of the City.

On Monday 1 June, two air alerts but no sheltering.

Our team in Dnipro is aware of the dangers of their work. Nevertheless, they are fully committed to helping those who are at the mercy of the war and need support. Photo: CADUS

Then came today, Tuesday 2 June. At the time of writing at 12:30pm, two air alerts so far. But it started at 01:06am, the air siren sounded throughout Dnipro City. When I was woken up by the sound of my phone vibrating, notifying of an air alert in Dnipro (as well as in Vinnytsia where two of our colleagues were), I opened the Telegram channels to monitor the threat level. For the first few minutes, notifications of LMS threats in the region. Then at around 01:09, I saw ballistic threat from Taganrog (Northwestern city in Sea of Azov in Russian Federation, near Mariupol). My heart raced. Depending on where the ballistic missiles are launched, they merely take 02:30 min to reach Dnipro City.

I was on alert, got out from bed, heard explosions in the distance – possibly LM drones. I shouted ‘SHELTER’ to alert the team, then we heard two loud explosions nearby – they landed about 5km away from the guest house. We walked down to the basement and made ourselves as comfortable as possible in the basement and I continued to monitor. For a few minutes, I did not see any threats towards Dnipro. However, one after another, I started seeing multiple missile launches from four or possibly five different directions. All of these reminded us on the night of Sunday 17/ Monday 18 May where we spent the entire night sheltering. I have never spent my night in the shelter before, glued to my phone monitoring combined LMS and missile attacks, much of which heading towards Dnipro that night. However, this morning, Kyiv was the main target.

In the night from May 17 to 18, our team tries to make the night in the shelter as pleasant as possible by watching a movie together. Photo: CADUS

According to Kyiv Independent, nine people were killed in Dnipro, including a child. Overnight, Ukraine received 656 drones, 75 hypersonic, ballistic and cruise missiles.

We currently have two ambulance teams responding to two separate dispatch calls. One departed at 08:00 to reach a hospital in Chernivtsi close to Romanian border (approximately 12-hour drive, 865km) to pick up a patient the next day to drive the patient across the country to Chernihiv (another 11-hour drive 800km). Then returning to Dnipro the next day.

Yes, sometimes we are tired from sleep deprivation and frequent disruptions and still have to go about our lives. However, CADUS is very lucky to have a strong, compassionate and empathetic team who can do the job day in and day out no matter what. We are here on purpose to deliver the best care that the patients can possibly receive (and so they deserve!). I think this is what motivates all of us in the Dnipro team to live in such an uncertain and sometimes anxious environment.