When Russia strikes, Kyiv's volunteer rescuers rush to help

KYIV, July 2 – Max, a graphic designer, helped find survivors in a Kyiv apartment building blown apart by a Russian missile on Thursday before heading to work — one of around 700 volunteer rescuers with the Ukrainian Red Cross.

“Mentally, it’s a lot easier now because years have gone by and we’ve adapted a bit,” said the 43-year-old, who had a close-cut mohawk and bold black wings tattooed on either side of his neck. “But of course it’s hard.”

He and other members of Taras Didenko’s team of volunteer rescuers were scouring the darkened, dust-strewn corridors for survivors even before the air-raid alert was lifted in the overnight attack that killed at least 21 and wounded around 90.

“We’re always planning,” said Didenko, 46, a deputy unit commander for the Ukrainian Red Cross. “We see all kinds of situations and have to make decisions on the spot.”

The increasing ferocity of Russian air attacks means emergency-response teams like Didenko’s are now experienced in saving lives — even with members holding down other day jobs.

In Thursday’s attack, Russia launched 496 drones and 74 missiles, including one that had decimated part of a nine-storey apartment block, leaving people trapped.

Dispatched by the State Emergency Service, Ukrainian Red Cross teams typically scout more than one site during mass attacks before settling on the most critical.

“First we do a general check: who needs help, what kind,” said Max. “We go apartment to apartment, because people might be stuck inside, or unconscious.”

Backing up emergency workers and firefighters, the team helped haul the wounded – young and old, men and women – through patches of rubble, debris and broken glass.

Amid the din of bellowing engines, uninjured residents nervously checked the victims on stretchers for familiar faces.

WIDE RANGE OF VOLUNTEERS

The Ukrainian Red Cross volunteers have two-dozen such teams stationed across the country, comprising a wide variety of professions from IT workers to kindergarten teachers.

When not responding to air strikes, they can often be found attending to car crashes or supporting music festivals.

On Thursday, they treated 35 people across Kyiv, a spokesperson said. The attack caused the widest destruction in the capital this year, and was the deadliest since at least May.

Another volunteer, Anet, a 21-year-old project manager wearing a bright red armoured vest with a camera strapped to her helmet, said each strike-damage site posed a unique challenge.

“Since there’s very serious damage here to a residential building, there’s a lot of work, and it’s difficult,” she said. REUTERS