Dobropillia, a city in the Donetsk region of Ukraine—less than 13 miles from the front line—has recently faced some of the worst shelling since the escalation of the war in 2022. As attacks continue, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are working to ensure urgent medical care is available to those caught in the violence.
“We hear heartbreaking stories from our patients,” said Oleksandr Makarevych, MSF emergency manager in Ukraine. “People tell us how they ran out of burning houses. Some were trapped inside their flats as the fire spread and couldn’t escape. One woman told us that her neighbors died in the bathroom, where they tried to hide during the attack.”
From left: "People live here!" spray-painted onto a fence in Dontesk; a building destroyed by shelling in Donetsk. Ukraine 2025 © MSF
A former city of refuge now faces frequent attacks
Dobropillia is a city of miners and farmers, and was once home to almost 40,000 people. Now, only 20,000 people remain, despite the growing danger. Because of its location, war-wounded and vulnerable people from nearby towns—including Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, and Kostiantynivka—were evacuated to Dobropillia for emergency medical care. But now, the city is under constant threat.
“People are living under permanent stress,” said Thomas Marchese, MSF program director in Ukraine. “Missile attacks have become more frequent. When sirens go off, people have only seconds to reach shelters—and many elderly people, people with disabilities, and families with children cannot make it in time."
"Even in basements, they are not completely safe," Marchese added. "If a building collapses, people could be trapped under rubble. For the past three years of full-scale war, we’ve witnessed these devastating consequences repeatedly—in the Donetsk region, Sumy, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia.”
MSF assists medical evacuations
Since 2022, MSF ambulances have been working closely with Dobropillia’s hospital, helping to transport patients to safer facilities further from the front lines. Following a massive attack at the beginning of March that killed 11 people and injured at least 50, MSF's ambulance teams referred 25 patients from Dobropillia to hospitals in Dnipro, five of whom were in critical condition.
Among those evacuated was a woman suffering severe burns to her face and eyes, along with blast injuries and head trauma. She and her husband had briefly left Dobropillia to stay with relatives in Dnipro but returned home to collect belongings. Then, the shelling began.
“There were so many wounded that even the hospital corridors were filled with patients,” said Serhii Tkachenko, an MSF staff member. “[The patient’s] oxygen levels were dangerously low, so we transported her with oxygen support.”
Another patient was a young man with an open fracture to his leg, as well as blast injuries, and head and chest trauma. “He ran to help others after the first explosion but was injured when more shells landed,” said Hennadii Kyslytsia, an MSF doctor. “We managed his pain and monitored his vital signs during the referral.”
Enormous needs remain in Ukraine
What MSF teams see in Dobropillia is alarming: burned-out apartment blocks, scorched land, and desperate shortages of essential medicines and services. Local authorities continue to call on residents to evacuate. The nearest transit center for displaced people is in Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where MSF mobile clinics also operate.
“Sometimes, patients arrive with severe injuries that were left untreated for two or three days,” said Marchese. “By the time they get to us, their condition is critical.”
MSF teams will continue to provide emergency care, evacuate the war-wounded, and support hospitals near the front line.
Even if the war ends tomorrow, the humanitarian and medical needs in Ukraine—especially in conflict areas—will remain enormous. People will need housing, access to medical care, and psychological support to recover from trauma and stress.
