Saving lives is the easiest thing we do, the hardest is raising the ton of money to allow us.MOAS, to do it: $1m a month in Ukraine, to be precise. And now we’ve run out.
We started small.
Almost three years ago, we began our work in Ukraine with one ambulance, evacuating children with chronic illnesses to safe locations.
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Today we have 50 state-of-the-art, specially adapted MOAS ambulances, and our 150 all-Ukrainian teams of doctors, paramedics, nurses and drivers evacuate the most terribly wounded soldiers from stabilization points to hospitals in the east, day in, day out. These are men with amputated limbs, severe head wounds, acute trauma from shrapnel, drones, mines, artillery fire – the full butcher’s bill of modern warfare.
I am proud to say we are now the Ukrainian army’s main critical casualty evacuation (casevac) provider. But with that honor comes the heaviest responsibility. If we don’t receive additional support urgently, we won’t be able to continue in 2025. That means many more Ukrainian soldiers will die.
Last year, I wrote in these pages about the need to take risks and save lives. That was back in September 2023, when the number of severely wounded soldiers we had saved was around 20,000. Today, that figure has risen to more than 63,000, a sign both of the terrible toll this war is taking and the dedication, courage and professionalism of our medics.
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Why does it cost so much?
Let me explain. When we first started, I decided we would use international and Ukrainian volunteers. That immediately saved a huge overhead. But pretty quickly, we discovered it didn’t work.
Though most of them were great medics, full of courage and compassion, they were also liable to disappear on holiday or to take on other commitments at short notice. More often than not, the internationals didn’t have the language or local experience to fit in. So before long we changed to a model of employing 100 per cent Ukrainian professional staff and have never looked back.
It is only fair that we pay our people really well. They are putting their lives on the line every time they go out to work and I think it’s only right to compensate them properly for their extraordinary commitment. We know how Russia has deliberately targeted emergency medics throughout this illegal war. I also make a point of employing the best of the best.
We’ve all heard the expression “pay peanuts and you’ll get monkeys.” Pay well and you get some of the most talented and inspiring medics in Ukraine. I’ve travelled in our ambulances with all of them and, hand on heart, I can tell you that you won’t find any better.
Add on top of the staffing costs the purchase of new vehicles and all the maintenance and spare parts they require to stay on the road – which is often difficult terrain – plus the vast quantities of expensive diesel they consume on the long day and night evacuations. Then there are all the drugs and medication, equipment and consumables in the ambulances we have to keep topping up. Don’t forget we need to accommodate and feed our 150 members of staff. Before you know it, the bill comes to plus or minus $1 million a month. That’s the price of saving lives.
As a risk-taking humanitarian disruptor, we’ve always followed our own path, raising funds privately from American and European private philanthropists, foundations and charities. We’ve never taken a single dollar, pound or Euro from any government. I don’t have anything against taking government funding but you can sense how difficult, even Kafkaesque, it can be when I tell you that one big government agency, with a budget running into the billions, told us they couldn’t consider us a humanitarian organization because we work with the Ukrainian military.
Never mind that we are saving tens of thousands of lives on the medical frontline. Go figure, as they say. That example is a reminder, too, that MOAS goes where other NGOs prefer not to.
So, this is where we are. Almost three years into this devastating war, our services are needed more than ever. The war continues to extract the bloodiest price. Our braver teams are busier than ever, evacuating 500–700 injured soldiers a week. But we’ve run out of money. And without money, we can’t go on.
As a risk-taking optimist and entrepreneur, I remain confident that something will come through. I hope and pray it will and I’m leaving no stone unturned, talking to our friends and donors around the world and around the clock.
We’re hopeful the British government, which has been extremely supportive of the war effort in Ukraine, will be able to find emergency funding that will allow us to continue saving lives. To put things in perspective, the figure of $1m a month, a period when we’ll be evacuating 2,000–3,000 severely wounded soldiers to hospital, is the same cost as a Storm Shadow missile. That seems like a great return on investment.
For us, this is the last throw of the dice. It’s as simple as that. Do or die.
Christopher Catrambone is the founder of MOAS. To donate to its Ukraine operation, please visit https://www.moas.eu/donate-moas-ukraine
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
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