Ambulances for Ukraine

The Algarve has been helping the Ukrainian war effort by sourcing and converting ambulances to send to the frontline.

Many public utility vehicles are being destroyed every day in Ukraine due to bombings, so a steady supply of new ambulances is critically needed on the frontline each month. Ambulances for Ukraine grew from an idea to use ambulances that are already at the end of their service but can still serve very well in Ukraine. This project is sponsored by ORANTA, a non-profit organisation based in the Algarve to help refugees in Portugal.

The project started with the purchase of two used ambulances by ORANTA from funds largely donated by the Ukrainian community in Portugal. The first annual Ukrainian festival took place in Lagos in May 2022, only months after the war in Ukraine began in late February 2022 and added more money to the effort.

Ambulances donated by Bombeiros of Monchique

Armed with the festival income, along with additional funding from the Câmara of Lagos, Ukrainian volunteers for ORANTA, Roman Grymalyuk and Ninel Martyniuk, began looking for discarded ambulances to buy and refit. They also went knocking on the doors of over thirty local Bombeiros and other firefighter associations to ask if they would be willing to donate or sell at a reduced cost their out-of-service ambulances to support the project. Their endeavours meant they were able to purchase and deliver two used ambulances to the war zone and help doctors on the frontlines. 

The response from the Portuguese community has also been overwhelming. ORANTA received four more ambulances from the Volunteer Firefighters Association of Carrazado Montenegro, Bombeiros Voluntários of Monchique, and most recently from Bombeiros of Beja. The League of Portuguese Firefighters was also instrumental in securing some of the vehicles. The association Help Together/I Help Ukraine donated 1,400 complete sets of surgical pyjamas to accompany the ambulances. Future ambulance deliveries will also include night headgear to help ambulance drivers navigate invisibly in the war zone.

Ambulance on the Ukrainian frontline 

All of these vehicles needed some level of repair and maintenance to be put back into service in Ukraine. Portuguese firm Norauto supported the project by providing free or reduced-cost work, including fitting new tyres and doing oil changes.

As of today, seven ambulances from the Algarve are on the frontlines in various locations in Ukraine. The most recent of the vehicles was delivered on 1 March. There are also pledges of more ambulances from other firefighter organisations and three more vehicles, including an ambulance and two Jeeps, in Portugal awaiting repairs before they head to Ukraine. The funding for these vehicles has been made possible by private donations at a carnaval fundraising event in Armação de Pêra and from the proceeds of an Algarve resident author’s book sales.

Sticker in remembrance of a fallen soldier and friend

Finally, as a reminder of the very human aspect of the war, each ambulance going to Ukraine now has a sticker showing a skull on the back in remembrance of a fallen soldier and friend of Grymalyuk’s, who left Portugal four days after the war began and has not been heard from since.

The war may likely continue for some time, so ambulances, four-wheel drive vehicles and even large buses that can be rebuilt with shower stalls and laundry facilities are still critically needed in Ukraine.

“Ambulances for Ukraine” project:

oranta.pt

oranta.pt@gmail.com

Main photo: Roman Grymalyuk with ambulance donated by Bombeiros of Beja

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