For MOAS, the international humanitarian disruptor which has saved 62,000 lives and counting on the Ukrainian frontline, this is a do or die moment.
For almost three years, the organisation’s all-Ukrainian medics have been evacuating – and keeping alive – the most critically injured soldiers in this devastating conflict.
With funding virtually exhausted, one of Ukraine’s most remarkable lifesaving operations is on the verge of extinction.
Monthly costs for the team of 150 medics, working in 50 state of the art ambulances, run at $1m, the price of a Storm Shadow missile.
If there is no additional support, MOAS can only continue evacuating the most severely injured soldiers from the medical frontline until the end of this year. There is no funding to keep going into 2025.
MOAS is now in urgent talks with all its donors in North America and Europe to keep the lifesaving operation on the road.
“We’re in talks with the UK government which we desperately hope will bear fruit,” says Christopher Catrambone, the founder of MOAS, who has been based in Kyiv since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
“The facts are simple. If we have to stop our operation, huge numbers of Ukrainian soldiers will die. In the words of a Ukrainian general, it will be a complete catastrophe. They’re overstretched and cannot do what we do. Nor can any other NGO in Ukraine. That’s why today we are launching this urgent appeal for support. It’s our last throw of the dice, it’s do or die.”