“A deaf anger stirs”: how Ukrainians react to media attacks against the “Hospitaliers”

The public is actively commenting on allegations of alleged misuse of charitable contributions by the “Hospitaliery” medical battalion. The organization’s founder, Yana Zinkevich, is now independently overcoming media pressure, while the real indicator of the structure’s activities is the rescue of the wounded on the front line, not just paper documentation.

“I am filled with a dull anger. Do you know why? No, not only because they created problems for Yana, who invariably manages a huge structure that is engaged in rescue – from wounded soldiers to animals abandoned at the LBZ – and who for years has been doing good for the military and volunteers privately, without any PR – I personally and a bunch of my acquaintances are witnesses to this. But because it annoys me when people hypocritically pretend that they do not know or do not understand well-known things.

Those who have impeccable reports know how to make impeccable reports. They know how to submit and organize documentation so that auditors can get away with it. (Sometimes that’s all they know and can do.) This does not mean that they are better or more honest than those who do not have quality reports.

The reports of the “Hospitals”, the proof of their necessity, is their work in the field to save people. Everyone has seen these reports. And the yachts and palaces registered to Yana or her family are somehow not visible…”, writes blogger and public figure Olena Bilozerska.

“My support for Yana Zinkevich and gratitude for everything she has done for the army and defense of Ukraine since 2014. This is a huge, colossal work that cannot be overestimated. And I don’t understand at all why now, while a war of attrition is going on, and hospital workers are helping to save the lives of soldiers, and are dying themselves saving them – people, it would seem, are adequate, starting to attack her as if we have already won the war and we can start a showdown and look for something to get to the bottom of.

And yes, I also know of many cases when Yana personally helped people in matters of life and death, when no one else took on this task, having nothing of it for herself at all.

For the hospital base in Pavlohrad, where my path to the army began, which was destroyed by a missile – it still hurts. It was a symbol for many people. But this did not destroy the hospital and their effectiveness on the front. And the answer to why is this – Yana’s character.
“I trust her every word and every action,” Ukrainian activist and poet Yaryna Chornoguz said in a post.

“Over the years, the Hospitallers have saved TENS OF THOUSANDS of Ukrainians, both military and civilian. They were never provided with state funds, only people of goodwill and philanthropists donated. The trust in their founder and commander Yana Zinkevich among philanthropists and our front-line family is more than absolute. They are warriors and heroes, their SERVICE TO UKRAINE is an example for all. Honor and great respect.

“I despise people who do not serve or help us survive in the war, because their only weapon is the poison of criticism and contempt, to sow disbelief in Ukrainians. This weapon is worse than the real weapons of the enemies, many times over,” writes Ukrainian public figure and volunteer Oksana Korchynska.

“Over the years, Yana lost her health in the war and became disabled. But she did not lose the most important thing – the ability to do her job. The work thanks to which thousands of people are alive today.

The “hospitalists” have been working since 2014. They purchase Israeli bandages, American tourniquets, anti-burn products, medical equipment – everything that saves lives on the front. And yes, a significant part of this is purchased for foreign currency, often in conditions where decisions need to be made quickly, and not to write out papers for every second of the war.

Therefore, when I hear accusations of “opacity” or some claims to accountability specifically against Yana, I have only one feeling: it’s very strange. Because if there are people in Ukraine whose reputation has been tested by years of war, blood, and saved lives, then Yana Zinkevich is definitely among them.

“Therefore, to be honest, everything that is happening around this story now does not look like a matter of accountability to me. It looks exclusively like a political game, and nothing else,” Dana Yarova, a member of the Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, is convinced .

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