Her home torn by war, Ukrainian student in B'luru sets out to help

A Ukrainian studying in Bengaluru is urging Indians to donate supplies to hospitals and the army in her war-ravaged home country.

Christina Daragan, 25, is a fourth-year MD student pursuing an elective in paediatrics at the St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences here.

Her parents and grandmother have taken shelter in the basement of the latter’s home, just an hour away from Kyiv, while Russia is raining missiles on the Ukrainian capital.

The war-torn country has introduced the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, a programme that gives foreigners visa-free entry into Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion.

Also read: Karnataka student killed in Russian shelling

Daragan says there are also other ways to help. For the past several days, she has been finding links for charities in Ukraine and spreading the information about the army’s bank account to which money can be donated. She herself has donated money.

Daragan is also advocating online about a verified and secure list of charities in Ukraine to offer medical and humanitarian help.

She told DH: “There is active shooting, bombing and fire in the Kyiv region because of which my family and many of my friends are hiding in basements and subway stations. I had been there for the New Year and Ukrainian Christmas at the end of December 2021. I try to reach them on the phone but the signal and internet connection is poor because of the explosions.

“I have asked friends in the US and everywhere abroad to donate and support in whatever way they can. I hope to join Doctors Without Borders in their mission to Ukraine but they normally don’t take medical students,” she said.

Her appeal comes even as medical facilities in Ukraine are increasingly coming under Russian attack.

On February 24, the first day of the attack, a Russian ballistic missile carrying a cluster munition struck outside a hospital in Vuhledar, a town in the government-controlled Donetsk region of Ukraine.

Russian forces also opened fire on an oncology centre in Melitopol, in Ukraine’s southeast.

Elsewhere, newborn babies were rushed from the safety of a neonatal unit to a makeshift shelter to avoid bombs.

At least 12 infants were taken by doctors and nurses to the basement of a building in Dnipro.

“People can provide medical help as civilian areas are constantly getting bombarded. We need humanitarian help because the infrastructure is getting destroyed. We’re running out of food and medical supplies. People are homeless now because their homes have been demolished by bombs. If people collect donations and ship them to Ukraine, it will be very helpful,” she said.

How you can help

Project CURE (It provides life-saving supplies and equipment to Ukrainian hospitals)

To offer medical and humanitarian assistance (This is a verified and secure list of charities in Ukraine)