Serhii Morhunov on the Transfer of Medical Supplies from the Czech Republic to Vinnytsia Hospitals: ‘This Aid Is Aimed at Saving People's Lives'

*‘As part of our cooperation with the Czech Republic's International Public Diplomatic Mission, headed by Vadym Kyrnychny, who is a Vinnytsia resident, we have been receiving assistance for our city since the beginning of the invasion,’ recalled Mayor Serhii Morhunov. ’In 2022, at the beginning of the full-scale racist offensive, it was thanks to Vadym Kyrnychny's assistance that we received the first large 264 kW generator for our city heating company. Since then, we have been in constant communication about the necessary assistance in various areas to ensure the resilience of our community.’

Serhii Morhunov also mentioned the Czech Republic's systematic support for Ukraine, in particular the initiative of the Czech President to search for artillery shells around the world and supply them to Ukraine so that we can fight the enemy in different parts of the frontline.

‘Today's aid is purely humanitarian, aimed at saving the lives of people being treated in hospitals, including the wounded. So we have distributed these almost 3,000 kits to our four hospitals in Vinnytsia, where they perform surgeries and provide emergency care to patients. Without this equipment, it is quite difficult to do so. After all, these instruments are actually expensive consumables that are constantly wearing out and need to be updated. The cost of this consignment is about 200 thousand euros, which is a fairly large financial resource for each of these hospitals and the Vinnytsia budget. We are grateful to the Czechs for the help from the whole of Vinnytsia, Vinnytsia residents and our medical institutions. We hope for further cooperation,’ added Serhii Morhunov.

In his turn, Jaroslav Vodný, advisor to the Czech Minister of the Interior, said that the assistance would continue. Another shipment will be collected soon.

‘I am grateful for the warm welcome in Vinnytsia. This is my second visit to your city. We have signed a memorandum with Vinnytsia City Council. We will try to organise as much humanitarian aid as possible. Today we have delivered complete sets for surgical operations,’ said Jaroslav Vodný.

The assistance will be provided to the City Emergency Hospital, City Clinical Hospital No. 1, Regional Clinical Treatment and Diagnostic Centre for Cardiovascular Pathology, and City Clinical Hospital ‘Mother and Child Centre’.

‘Our friends from the Czech Republic have handed over important instruments and consumables for surgical and trauma operations. This is very high quality equipment, which is currently covered with medical paraffin. Such instruments are used for surgical treatment in surgery and traumatology. Unfortunately, these tools often fail, so they need to be constantly updated. The initiative to receive instruments from the Czech Republic is very important to us, and we are grateful to our partners for this,’ said Oleksandr Banakh, director of the City Clinical Hospital No. 1. The hospital received about 800 pieces of equipment.

In addition to Vinnytsia, Kyiv has also received such medical humanitarian aid from the Czech Republic, and another shipment is being prepared for hospitals in Dnipro.