Support for Kherson's front line hospitals
In Kherson, hospitals keep caring for patients despite near-daily attacks. Together with our new Ukrainian partner New Dawn and our long-term partners Project C.U.R.E. and Flexport, we have sent five of these hospitals a container of equipment matched to their needs, worth $249,794.
Since February 2022, more than 3,000 attacks on health care have been verified across Ukraine, and around 80% of them have hit outpatient clinics, hospitals and other care settings. At the same time, the need for help keeps growing, as 10.8 million people in the country require humanitarian assistance this year.
Few places feel this pressure as heavily as Kherson.
A city on the front line
Ukrainian forces liberated Kherson on 11 November 2022, although the war never really went away. Today, only the Dnipro River separates the city from Russian-held territory, and residents live with constant artillery fire, guided bombs and thousands of drone attacks.
Indeed, the years since liberation have brought one crisis after another. In June 2023, the destruction of the Kakhovka dam flooded large parts of the region and left around 16,000 people homeless, while rescuers had to evacuate residents under fire. Since July 2024, drone attacks have repeatedly killed and injured civilians along more than 100 kilometres of the riverbank.
Not surprisingly, many people have left. Kherson once had about 300,000 residents, while only around 60,000 remain in the city today, many of them elderly. Even so, the hospitals have kept working. Several have moved whole departments below ground, including a maternity ward that has kept delivering babies since early 2025 despite repeated shelling.
Hidropark and Ostriv district in Kherson along the Dnipro River. Photo by David Gor.
Partnering with New Dawn
Against this backdrop, the Ukrainian humanitarian organisation New Dawn has joined us as a partner to help meet the rising demand. New Dawn works across the south-eastern regions of Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson, where its programmes range from shelter support and care for older people to emergency interventions and medical assistance. For people who have lost everything, its help can start with food and hygiene supplies, and it can reach as far as repairing public infrastructure so that whole communities may rebuild their livelihoods.
What we delivered
In an effort to ease the growing pressure, we have just sent a container full of supplies to five hospitals in Kherson. Our longterm partner Project C.U.R.E. provided high-quality medical equipment from its warehouse in Nashville, so New Dawn and the hospitals could select exactly what each facility needed for the greatest impact. Flexport then helped move the shipment on its long journey to southern Ukraine.
Inside the container, the hospitals found medicines and medical consumables alongside a wide range of ward equipment. Patients will now be able to rest on adjustable beds with proper medical mattresses. Staff received a range of supplies from procedure and treatment carts, mobile medical cabinets, IV stands and medical scales to support their daily work. Meanwhile, wheelchairs and walkers, together with crutches and canes, will help patients regain their mobility during recovery. The shipment also included medical waste containers and patient care supplies, along with other materials the hospitals rely on every day.
Altogether, the delivery carries a value of $249,794. As part of our broader work in Ukraine, it is our 39th container of supplies, and it brings the total value of medical aid we have sent to the country to $18,999,831.
Every item in this shipment may help save a life or protect someone's health. In a region under constant threat, supporting Kherson's hospitals matters enormously, because the medical teams there keep showing up despite the risks. We hope this delivery gives them one thing less to worry about while they care for the patients who need them.
