Anna Kolosovska: “We lack people here, and I wish there were more of us”

Intern-anesthesiologist Anna Kolosovska has a simple but quite logical pseudo, “Kolos,” which means “Spike” in Ukrainian. In civilian life, she also works as an ambulance paramedic.

The 26-year-old Kyivan describes her path to the Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital as long. After the full-scale invasion of the Moscow horde in February 2022, she wanted to help civilians or military but “didn’t know who to turn to.” She applied to various medical battalions many times.

In August 2022, she also applied to PFVMH, and her application was immediately approved. For a month, she walked around military stores, preparing herself for her first mission.

“My first rotation was in the area of Bakhmut. To say it was scary is an understatement,” Anna admits.

She worked on the so-called “long shoulder” — evacuating the wounded on an intensive care ambulance from the frontline stabilization posts to medical facilities.

“For me, it was a very tough experience,” says Anna in a video recorded a year later during her second mission with PFVMH.

“If it weren’t for volunteers, I honestly don’t know how the Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers would do without us,” Kolosovska asserts. “Honestly, I want to encourage people to join PFVMH. Because we lack people here, and I wish there were more of us.”