Cypriot volunteer doctors care for Ukrainian refugees (video)

The volunteer mobile unit of Cypriot health professionals will continue to provide medical assistance to Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion at the Romanian border until Monday, the head of the mission told the Cyprus News Agency on Thursday.

A second Cypriot mission will be set up in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Cyprus News Agency photographer Katia Christodoulou who is accompanying the mission spoke to a family with two little girls —  Annia, aged 2,  who holds her teddy bear in her arms, and Rusia, aged 6, along with their kitten Daisy minutes after they crossed the border.

They are going to stay with friends in another Romanian city, they told the photo reporter.

“We love our country very much and we want to return,” says the mother, Natalie, explaining there was an airport near their town that was constantly being bombed, which is why they chose to leave.

The border is crowded, Christodoulou said, adding that due to the night curfew in Ukraine, the flow of refugees starts just after dawn.

Queues of cars form for kilometres, she said, but there are also people who, lacking transport, must flee the country on foot.

Refugees walk for about ten hours from the nearest town in Ukraine to the border where some 200,000 displaced people are in camps waiting to see if the attacks will continue and if they will eventually have to leave.

According to information from local authorities, she added, some 600,000 refugees from Ukraine have already crossed into Romania.

At the border, volunteers offer hot soup or drinks, and first aid is provided if needed.

There is also a section of deaf volunteers who had to assist in the care of a deaf girl the previous day.

According to the head of the Cypriot mission, Dr George Makriyiannis, the Cypriot mission is the only volunteer mobile unit with medical staff in the border town and will remain there until Monday afternoon providing medical care to the refugees.

The Cypriot medical team is also assisting the Greek Red Cross nursing team on the ground.

The volunteers also respond, as they did on Wednesday, to calls for medical assistance from nearby towns hosting refugees.

Dr Makryyiannis added there will certainly be a second Cypriot mission in the coming weeks.

According to the doctor, “there is enough” equipment and medicines to provide the necessary care, explaining that if an incident is more serious and specific medicines need to be purchased, then financial support is provided to the refugees to do so.

Furthermore, a special post has been set up with food and water for the pets the refugees bring with them.

The volunteer group initially arrived at town of Radauti at around 8am on Tuesday, from where they headed to the small border town of Siret and set up their base early Tuesday. The team consists of one pathologist, two paediatricians, two nurses and one auxiliary general practitioner.

The mission is being carried out by the ‘Volunteer Doctors of Cyprus’ in partnership with “Médecins du Monde” of Greece.

Photos by Katia Christodoulou, Cyprus News Agency