War zone ambulance operated by Malta NGO attacked in Ukraine
The NGO said the crew were evacuating a critically injured patient from eastern Ukraine
An ambulance run by a Malta-based NGO was attacked in Ukraine by a Russian drone, according to a statement by MOAS.
The NGO said the crew, who were evacuating a critically injured patient from eastern Ukraine, “narrowly escaped serious injury”.
“The ambulance was travelling on an open road when the FPV [first-person view] drone detonated close to the vehicle. The explosion shattered the ambulance’s windows, causing minor cuts from broken glass. The crew, made up of a doctor, a paramedic and a driver, as well as the critically injured patient, were otherwise unharmed,” MOAS said.
MOAS is a Malta-registered NGO, which first began operating search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean in 2014. It has since carried out humanitarian operations in crisis zones, including in Ukraine for the past four years.
Another view of the damaged vehicle. Photo: MOASThe organisation says it has helped evacuate and treat 84,700 Ukrainian soldiers, with zero recorded deaths among those it assisted.
“In Ukraine, its focus has been on providing urgent medical evacuation and critical care support for those injured in the war,” the NGO said, describing its operations.
MOAS said Tuesday’s incident underlined the extreme risks faced by medical teams operating close to the frontline in Ukraine, where humanitarian and medical personnel continue to carry out life-saving work under constant threat.
“This was a terrifying incident involving a clearly humanitarian medical mission,” said MOAS founder Christopher Catrambone.
This is not the first time MOAS personnel and assets have come under threat in eastern Ukraine, the NGO said.
In August 2024, one of the organisation’s bases in the Donetsk region was hit by Russian weapons, damaging ambulances and destroying medical equipment and medicine, the NGO said.