First Lady Raises $3.2m to Buy Ambulances for Ukraine

Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, helped raise over three-million-dollars during her visit to Washington, America. Below is an official statement from the Ukrainian Presidential Office:

On the initiative of the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, the second Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen took place on July 23. The main purpose of the event was to discuss the postwar future of our country and the world, as well as to collect funds for ambulance vehicles for Ukraine.

The second Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen is designed to once again draw the attention of the world community to the full-scale war that has been ongoing for the fifth month in the center of Europe. The main theme of this year’s event was human. After all, it is the preservation and restoration of human capital that is the key to the successful recovery of the country.

“A person, his life and health, honor and dignity, inviolability and security are recognized as the highest value in Ukraine. Our Constitution says so. This has always been the case, and no one will take away this value – our soldiers on the battlefield, medics delivering babies in basements, volunteers taking out elderly people from under shelling assert it every day,” said Olena Zelenska.

On the eve of the Summit, on July 21, a fundraising was launched for the C-type ambulance vehicles. These ambulance vehicles are equipped with everything necessary to quickly and safely transport the seriously injured to the hospital.

Other Topics of Interest

Russian Attacks on Ukraine Energy Could Trigger ’Tipping Point’: UN

With Russia’s full-scale invasion approaching the 1,000-day mark, 3.7 million people have already been displaced inside Ukraine and around 6.7 million have fled as refugees, according to UN figures.

“How many ambulance vehicles do we need? Today, according to the estimates, several hundred. Is that enough? Not sure. The war does not end. Ambulance vehicles rescue people under shelling, take out the wounded on roads that have been destroyed by explosions. Doctors risk their lives and, together with the vehicles, actually become participants in hostilities,” Olena Zelenska said.

Such vehicles are equipped with everything necessary to transport the seriously wounded to the hospital: oxygen tanks, cardiac monitors and defibrillators, electrocardiographs and ventilators. The approximate cost of one such vehicle is EUR 100,000. Such vehicles can move even off-road.

According to preliminary estimates, at the time of the end of the Summit, the total amount of money raised was almost UAH 120 million. The fundraising is continued and is carried out through the United24 fundraising platform.

The summit took place in the format of a telebridge between five countries. The main studio was located in Kyiv, on the territory of the National Reserve “Sofia Kyivska”, four others – in Warsaw, Brussels, Washington and London.

The event was attended by 23 First Ladies of Austria, Belize, Belgium, Greece, the State of Israel, Ecuador, Iceland, Spain, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, the USA, Turkey, France, Germany, Montenegro, as well as Her Royal Highness the Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein and the wife of the President of the European Council.

Among the more than fifty invited speakers were President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda, President of the European Council Charles Michel, Director-General of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Executive Director of UN Women Sima Bacchus, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides, Secretary of State of Great Britain Liz Truss, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, football player, UNICEF goodwill ambassador David Beckham, tennis player, U24 ambassador Elina Svitolina, actors Richard Gere, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Liev Schreiber and many others.

The moderators of the Summit were world-famous TV presenter and journalist Piers Morgan and Ukrainian TV presenter Hanna Homonai. At the Summit, the singer Ellie Goulding and Dmytro Shurov jointly performed the song “Oi u luzi chervona kalyna”.

The event was broadcasted in more than 20 countries of the world, including Great Britain, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, Austria, Malaysia, Belgium, Spain, Nigeria, South Africa, Poland, Turkey, Germany, USA, Hungary, Cyprus, Lebanon and North Macedonia.

Official website of the event: https://kyivsummitflg.gov.ua